


Countdown

by CrowsQuill



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Detective Work, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Golden Demon, Hurt/Comfort, Investigations, K/DA, Kda, Love/Hate, M/M, Mind Games, Modern AU with parallels to original backstories, Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Secret Identities, Secret Identity, Serial Killers, Sexual Tension, Yasuo is K/DA's producer and also a badass, author doesn't know how to tag fics, holy fuck if you like sexual tension this is YOUR FIC, jhin is a psychopath, stagehand jhin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:34:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 53,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27375025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrowsQuill/pseuds/CrowsQuill
Summary: Everything was supposed to have gone well. Yasuo, an up and coming music producer was getting break after undeserved break with True Damage and K/DA, despite a rougher past. Now, only two weeks before K/DA's performance at Worlds in Shanghai, the head of security comes to Yasuo as a last resort when a mass collection of unconventional murders occur right before the worldwide comeback. Yasuo now has to rely on his background of pure self-defense and sharp senses to hunt down and bring this serial killer to justice, all without the public or the members of K/DA ever finding out. However, the Golden Demon, the serial killer Yasuo needs to track down, isn't just any serial killer: soon, Yasuo finds himself locked into layers of mind games. And in these games, Yasuo needs to either win, saving not only their careers but also dozens of lives, or die. Before long, the master of wind finds himself playing with fire.
Relationships: Khada Jhin/Yasuo
Comments: 93
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

Everything was _supposed_ to have gone well. Yasuo had been catching break after break this past year, starting with True Damage allowing him to join the band and showcase his passion for music despite his questionable record, his blossoming friendship with Akali that eventually got him invited to collaborate with K/DA, the ever-popular AAPE fashion brand reaching out to make him their main model- all things Yasuo would never have anticipated a man like himself ever earning. Yet here he was, his future looking as bright as it had ever been, only to have it crash down right before his very eyes. 

“Repeat what you just said to me,” Yasuo said, rubbing his temples tiredly. Jackson, K/DA’s head of security and also the man who had done his questionable background check, looked the slightest bit apologetic. He turned back to the very front page of the folder he had slid in front of Yasuo just a few minutes before. 

“Shanghai, the location we’ve had set for Worlds and K/DA’s comeback performance, is, uh, compromised,” Jackson said, his voice deep and awkward. 

“Yes, and by _compromised,_ you mean you have kept the news of their fucking serial killer who just happened to spring up a few weeks ago quiet, right before the girls are set to perform their comeback and the thousands of people will come together in one vulnerable, high target area.” 

Jackson, a usually impeccably calm, stone-faced man, fidgeted awkwardly with the edge of his collared shirt. 

Yasuo sighed once more, taking that as his reply. “And you told me this… now? Why did you come to ME for this?” Jackson’s guilty expression said it all. “Wait, don’t answer that.”

Yasuo could surely see the logic behind it all. Jackson had cut him a massive, undeserved break, and knew things about him that the average person did not. Yasuo had multiple run-ins with the law, a history of slightly heavy drinking, and worst of all, he seemed to be forbidden from returning to his homeland. Yasuo was born in a part of rural Japan, a place he had never returned to since fleeing as a teenager, right after his brother, Yone, had gone permanently “missing,” in the eyes of a legal standpoint. Since then, multiple suspected members of the “Yakuza” (which wasn’t really the case, but Yasuo was _not_ about to explain it to Jackson after he passed his background check) had shown up in Yasuo’s area, only to go permanently missing a few days later. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots, but for whatever reason, Jackson had a nose for morals rather than legal background.  
“So you expect me to be some super-badass vigilante, figure out what the hell’s going on in Shanghai, all while keeping it hush-hush for the public and the girls? All BEFORE they perform in… two weeks?” Yasuo said, smirking bitterly- he sounded like the next star of the 30th Tom Cruise action movie. 

Jackson spread his arms, sighing exasperatedly. “Look at it in my shoes! What am I supposed to do? If I authorize higher authorities to let the local police get involved, they’ll start a commotion and cancel the entire event, leading to more attention given to the serial killer- which is EXACTLY what he wants. Plus, the girls have been practicing on this for months, we’ve sunk _millions_ into Worlds: it would be the biggest letdown in this company’s history, _and_ the end of more than one of our careers. And for what? A potential hoax?” 

“How the hell could this be considered a hoax, Jackson?” 

“I don’t know! It could be anything! Suicides, accidents- people die every day, why fuck over the company as well?” 

“Right, suicide... I too carve elegant flowers into my flesh and make my body a bloody mess before painfully bleeding out rather than just shooting myself in the head,” Yasuo said sarcastically. “Oh, and I let my friends know about it too so that _6 other victims_ can ALSO die in the same exact way! Does that make sense to you, Jackson!?” 

“Look, Yasuo. I’m coming to you as a last resort. I’ve gotten a few higher feds out to investigate, but they’re turning up dry. I know there’s more to you than what meets the surface, and right now, that’s something I need. Your involvement could save the performance and more lives, and right now, we may need more nontraditional methods of help. Could you at least give me a yes or a no rather than all the sarcasm so I can dial up the local police and turn this into a shitshow, or can I count on you?” 

Yasuo closed his eyes, reaching his hands into his dark brown hair. He took a minute, trying-and failing- to recenter himself, breathing deeply as he ignored the gentle shake of his hands. “Fine. Don’t expect me to make the hero play though, Jackson,” He looked up, staring Jack directly in the eyes. “And you better bail my ass out of any trouble I get myself into over there, or you’ll be getting hell over it, you mark my words.” 

Jackson’s eyes wrinkled into what could be mistaken for a smile, but knowing Jack he probably just got something caught in his eye. “I always knew I would need to trust you one day, Yasuo.. Just a gut feeling.”

“Riiight. I don’t want to hear any of that bull. When am I leaving for Shanghai?” 

Jackson’s tone sobered quickly. “Tonight. 6pm, you’ll have just enough time to attend practice, pack anything you may need, and we’ll drive you over. It won’t be a long ride, so you’ll get there before nightfall. Everything from the chauffeur to the hotel, which will be in the area the serial killer is suspected of lurking in, will be set the second you set your foot out of practice. Until then, let the girls know you’ll be away but…” Jackson looked at Yasuo seriously. “Don’t let them know too much.” 

“Got it.” Yasuo said, matching his tone. “I should get going then, I’m probably late.”

Jackson nodded once, collecting the folder with the gruesome images and classified information that he laid before Yasuo. He slipped it into a briefcase as Yasuo stood up and headed out the door. 

The temporary recording room they used for their practice was only a brisk walk away from the building the head of security had called him to. The town they resided in was quite picturesque, it was right near the coast of the East China Sea, near enough to Shanghai but not overcrowded to where the girls would get swarmed by superfans the second they stepped out of the hotel. Although, he couldn’t deny it had happened to them, and more repulsively, himself, more than once. 

However, it was easier for Yasuo to blend in with the crowd once the temporary silver hair dye he used for his AAPE contract had washed out, and especially now that Seraphine had electric blue hair. He was honestly relieved beyond words at this, never being one for attention. All he needed was the wind by his side and maybe a bottle of sake, and he’d be happy, or at least the closest he could get to it. 

Practice was supposed to start at 5, and it was nearing it already. Yasuo marveled at how dark the sky fell so early now that it was growing later in the year, but he savored the cooler temperature and the sea winds blowing through his hair. A few minutes later, and he arrived at the practice studio, nodding to the guards that prevented superfans and the paparazzi from sneaking in and stealing a snippet of K/DA’s anticipated album. 

He didn’t have to walk far into the building to run into the girls, paired with a few assistants, getting ready for practice. Kai’sa was absorbed into her phone, wearing a comfortable rehearsal outfit for the dance routine she had put together after hours of effort. Evelynn was standing in the back, looking impatient as ever and inspecting her long, bejeweled nails that looked like hell to maintain. Akali was passing back a few papers between two other assistants in the room, and pointing to a few notes and the sheet music, absorbed deep in conversation. Ahri and Seraphine were together, giggling as Seraphine tried one of her “glam” makeup styles on one of her eyes. It didn’t look like Yasuo had missed much, despite being late.

Seraphine caught Yasuo out of the corner of her eye and brightened even further. She handed the eyeshadow kit to Ahri and walked over to him, beaming. “Hey, Yasuo! Where were you? We were getting worried, and we didn’t want to start without you here.” 

“Yeah, where _were_ you?” Someone from the back of the room asked, her tone much less bright than Seraphine’s was. Evelynn walked out from where she was waiting and fixed him with a golden stare. “I can’t say I’m surprised you’re late, again, but can I point out that we have _two weeks_ until we’re all performing live in front of millions of people?” 

Yasuo respected Evelynn, she worked countless hours in a day and cared about K/DA more than anything, although she was the oldest and least patient in the entire group. She was a musical artist, yes, but also a businesswoman, and liked making good decisions and staying on time. She was always consumed in a schedule, whether it was taking calls or making necessary appearances and deals. Yet, always found the time to look out for the members of the group she cared about. Yasuo, evidently, was not one of the people. 

Yasuo cleared his throat awkwardly. “I, uh, did need to talk about that.” As he spoke in a more serious tone, the room started to quiet, Akali pausing to glance over from him and Kai’sa pushed the button that turned the screen off on her phone. “They’re sending me out early to get everything for the show set up. I am the only one who really understands my work, so I need to get the equipment, the lighting, the instruments, and everything else set up.”

“What!?” Seraphine interjected, “We NEED you here Yasuo! How can we practice our music without our producer and the musician behind it all?” 

“You’ll be fine,” Yasuo reassured. “I already wrote all of the music, and I’m sure you guys have all heard it so much that you can hear it in your sleep. You can simply play the instrumental while I’m not here, it’ll work just as well. And from a producer standpoint, you guys are absolutely fine, we’re just working on a few timing errors with the dance routine and making sure that we’re prepared. You don’t need me for that either.” 

Akali nodded. “He’s right, we’re gonna be fine for the show in two weeks. It’s more important that you’re there, setting everything up properly rather than sitting with us and watching us iron out the last few kinks in our routine. You’ve done all you can here, so you should head out over there, yknow?” 

Kai’sa and Ahri nodded in agreement with her, and Evelynn rolled her eyes, but evidently had nothing to say about it. Yasuo bit the inside of his cheek. He hated lying to people, but why was he always forced to do it? Luckily, it seemed to have gone over smoothly. 

“But uh,” Yasuo shifted his weight from one foot to another. “I can still attend this one last practice. My ride doesn’t leave until six.” 

Seraphine brightened immediately. “That’s great! See, always so dedicated to it all! We’d be glad to have you here!” 

Yasuo nodded, although he thought to himself bitterly, _Well, that makes one of you._

Suddenly, Yasuo felt a cold prickle go down his spine. He turned and made eye contact with a tall, amber-eyed stagehand. The man’s eyes were piercing and deep as if he had stared into the secrets of the universe and made it out alive. They sent yet another shiver down his spine, and he bit the inside of his cheek once more. _What’s up with this guy?_

“I apologize,” the stagehand purred. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I’m just here to give Evelynn the coffee she requested, and then I’ll be..” His amber eyes swept over Yasuo, lingering on the long stretch of hair tied back. “..out of your hair.” 

Yasuo stepped by wordlessly, his eyes never leaving the outline of the assistant’s. He kept his posture straight as ever as he strode over to Evelynn, handing her the warm cup with his gloved hands. 

“About time.” Evelynn snapped at him, accepting the drink. “You all know nothing of remaining to a schedule and consistency, yet you wonder why you’re still just an assistant after all this time.” Her aggravation from Yasuo’s tardiness paired with not enough caffeine was probably the cause of her slight outburst, but the assistant seemed entirely unaffected. 

“I apologize,” the assistant said, his tone as smooth as ever. “Your work is what matters, and I shall enable you to perform as best as you can. It will not happen again.” 

Evelynn looked at him strangely before saying “Yes, well, that will be all.” 

The assistant nodded, and swept out of the room, brushing just barely by Yasuo. He may have hesitated for a fraction of a second, but Yasuo chalked it up to his imagination. 

The sound of the front door closing was heard, and a beat passed before Yasuo broke the silence. “Who WAS that?”

“Oh,” Ahri said dismissively, “that stagehand. He seems to have been around forever, but he can’t catch a promotion for his life. He’s never on time, and recently, we’ve had to call in a replacement once or twice because he just.. wasn’t anywhere near where he needed to be.”

Akali nodded. “Talented as all hell- I’ve asked him for input on everything from costume design to beat suggestions and he’s sharp as a tack, but god awful time management. Can’t be the head of a show if you aren’t in the area when you’re called to do practice.” 

Kai’sa looked over at Akali. “Sure, but he creeps me out. I don’t know what it is about him, but he makes my skin crawl. I’m grateful he hasn’t gotten a promotion, or else I’d see more of him.” 

Yasuo almost agreed with her, but he wasn’t sure if “skin crawl” was the right descriptor. In fact, Yasuo half hoped he’d see more of the stagehand, but he kept that fine detail to himself. 

Evelynn cleared her throat, trying to change the topic in an obvious way. “We’re already late starting, plus Yasuo is leaving early, so I’d like to get maybe a few minutes of practice time in.”  
Everyone nodded, and the assistants ushered themselves out quickly, waving to Akali as she sifted through the papers. Yasuo walked over to his familiar spot in front of all the musical technology he could dream of, and the girls walked over to the main room. They had nailed the vocal aspect of it all, but timing it with perfectly synchronized dancing was like trying to juggle flaming katanas. Yasuo settled into what would likely be the last moment of peace and steady workflow he would feel for quite some time. 

He played the song they were working on- MORE- over and over for them, watching them work on the chorus of the song. From time to time he would throw out a few suggestions and even compliment them after a successful run. Music was something that had always eased his mind, even when he was just a boy, and dancing was just as respectable to him, even if he was seemingly more flat-footed than anyone else on the planet. 

Before Yasuo was truly ready, the clock hit 5:45, and he sighed, sinking a bit deeper into his chair. He had to go and pack in order to scramble to the car on time, but he didn’t want to leave. Everything aside, he loved practice and the workflow and shared passion that came with it. He certainly wasn’t ready to put it and music aside for potential weeks, especially not to put himself in dangerous and gruesome situations. 

But, such is the life of a “badass vigilante detective music producer” (or at least that’s what he was in the eyes of Jackson), and he rose to his feet. He said goodbye to his team and spoke a few more words of encouragement before walking out the door. He had to half-jog to the hotel as he procrastinated on leaving the studio, but it was worth it for a few more heartbeats of being in such a place. 

At the hotel, he packed light. He filled a single black duffel bag with clothes and a few jackets, added his phone and its charger out on top, a brush and a handful of hair ties, and then last, but not least, his katana and its accompanying wooden _saya._

He made it to the car, half hoping the ominous black vehicle would have driven off without him inside. But, seeing as he was the only expected passenger, he would have no such luck. To no surprise, Jackson was standing outside of the car, waiting expectantly for him. He seemed to have a few items in his hand for him. 

“First thing,” Jack said, without even a nod of greeting, “this is your hotel reservation. Since its company money, I made sure to get you a nice one, since you are doing us all a solid right now. Here’s also a credit card. Use it only on official business, and yes, there IS a limit.”

Yasuo smirked at him, accepting the two. 

“Next, here is the folder. This is CLASSIFIED information, do not leave it where anyone could find it, and do not share it with anyone. It is critical to your investigation and it contains pictures from the crime scene, those involved, and addresses. We don’t have an extreme amount of intel, but something is better than nothing.”  
After handing Yasuo the folder, he pulled one last item from his pocket. “Last but not least, this is your work phone. It has no photography, no GPS, no texting, no internet access, and only a few contacts in total. If you EVER need to communicate anything about the mission, use this phone exclusively. We must take every precaution to prevent the situation from becoming public knowledge. My contact is in there, at the top of the list, and here,” Jack said, turning the phone on its side, “is the emergency signal. God forbid you get into a situation, but if you do, hitting this button will send out a signal to us so we can track your location immediately. We will be on standby for any new information and if you ever need our help.” 

Yasuo accepted the phone, nodding somberly. 

Jack placed a hand on his shoulder. “Good luck, Yasuo. You won’t need it, but I’m wishing it to you anyway. You’re doing all of us a true favor.” 

“Don’t mention it..” Yasuo muttered, shrugging his hand off as he stepped into the looming black car. The windows were tinted, so the last thing he saw was Jackson’s bearded face slamming the car door before he was plunged into the dim light. Yasuo put his bag down next to himself, and then the chauffeur kicked the vehicle into action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have soooo many ideas for this fic, but motivation is always hard for me. Comments are HUGELY appreciated, they motivate me more than anything when things get harder to write. Thanks for the read!


	2. Chapter 2

Yasuo wished he had fallen asleep during the ride, but sleep had always been hard to come by for him, especially after… well.. Regardless, he had spent the whole ride, which couldn’t have been more than an hour long, leaning his head against the window and yearning for sleep, and maybe a sip or two of sake. 

The woman driving the car, who Jackson mentioned was a professional driver, loved to slam the gas. She had a destination to get to, and every second she wasn’t there was a second wasted. She wasn’t much for conversation, which Yasuo was grateful for. The ride passed uneventfully, save for the high-speed maneuvering that left Yasuo slamming against the side of the car once in a while. But no matter, he only checked that his seatbelt was secure a few dozen times. 

After maybe an hour of driving, she screeched to a halt before the hotel. It wasn’t the nicest hotel he’d ever stayed in, but it looked clean and fairly welcoming. She announced “This is it.” firmly, and stared at Yasuo through the rearview mirror before he awkwardly thanked her and dragged both himself and his bag out of the car. Not a second after he slammed the door shut did she pull off from the curb and speed off into the night. 

He walked into the front of the hotel, pulling the hotel reservation out of the collection of items the Jack handed him. He sent a silent prayer to whatever was out in the universe that no one would recognize him, and luckily, the fates seemed to be on his side. No one was milling about in the lobby, and the receptionist was an older woman who likely wouldn’t recognize him even if the whole of K/DA was standing behind him.  
“Room for.. uh..” Yasuo glanced back at the reservation, reading off the fake name assigned to him, “James Antonio?” 

The receptionist smiled at him, although her eyes were dull as she turned to the computer. She typed in the name, and then sure enough, the pseudonym popped up on the screen. “You’ll be in room 47. It’s on the fourth floor, and here is your keycard. Make sure you come down if ya lose it, hun.” 

He thanked her and headed towards the elevator. After a second thought, he opted for the stairs instead. Evelynn always insisted that they all take the elevator as it was “safer” than being alone in a stairwell and more “efficient,” but Yasuo never felt comfortable in such enclosed spaces. He needed somewhere with the wind at his back and enough room to comfortably swing his katana in self-defense. 

He traveled up the four flights with ease, his aching legs appreciating the stretch after being cramped inside the car. He navigated his way to room 47 and slid the keycard into the slot. A click sounded, and he walked into his room. He set his bag down on the sole bed and did a quick scan around the room. Trying to continue living a life when a lot of people want you dead required you to take some extra precautions. Unsheathed katana in hand, he walked around the room, inspecting the bathroom, the closet, and underneath the bed and in any nook and cranny. He looked for the red glare of a camera, any traps or weapons, or worst of all, people waiting to spring (you may laugh now, but its happened).

After making a few careful sweeps, unable to detect any signs of a malicious presence, he sighed with relief and headed back to the bed he had set his duffle bag on. He put his katana back into its _saya,_ but instead of laying it gently on the bed, he tied it to his side. He wasn’t quite ready to retire just yet, and he had company money to spend. What better use of an “official business only” credit card than a few drinks at a bar? 

His hair was beginning to fall from its ponytail, so he took the time to retie it into a smoother look. He pulled a dark jacket over his clothing, as it was beginning to get dark and windy, then pocketed both the credit card, the keycard, and then after a few moments of deliberation, the company’s secure phone. 

His katana was still secured at his side, but he hoped no one would comment on it. Since he was only going to a bar, he was sure that the bartender had seen much, much more concerning in his day. 

There were multiple bars in walking distance from the hotel. Yasuo kept his hands in his pockets as he walked, hoping that pulling the dark jacket down some could conceal a bit of the katana. The last thing he needed was the local police on his ass. 

Finally, he stopped in front of a local bar, one that didn’t look too run into the ground but one worn enough so that no “high class” celebrities like himself, ironically, would visit it. He made his way inside, the bell on the door ringing gently as it shut behind him. There were only a handful of people in the bar, and no one but the bartender himself looked up at him as he entered. 

“Hello,” Yasuo called out to the bartender, relieved that no flash of recognition had crossed his face when he looked over at Yasuo. 

The bartender called the same greeting back, his English speaking skills as strong as ever after years of serving customers with all kinds of linguistic backgrounds. He waved Yasuo over to a seat at the front. “What can I get you tonight?” 

“Sake,” Yasuo said, pulling out one of the worn barstools. “Something from a higher shelf too, please.” 

The bartender nodded politely, analyzing the shelves of alcohol behind him. He didn’t conceal the curious stare he gave Yasuo’s katana out of the corner of his eye well enough for him not to notice it, but Yasuo was pleased that he decided not to comment on it. After all, his customer was purchasing a pricier drink and there was no doubt the owner was trained in some form of self-defense: you had to be, managing a place like a bar. 

Yasuo watched the man select a bottle with fancy lettering and a crisp looking design. He pulled out a silver shot glass from underneath the counter that also had fine, dark Chinese letting along the brim. It was clearly a more premium brand, one that Yasuo had never tried, so it was served chilled. He had never been one for the dispute of how to properly drink sake, whether warm or chilled was more elegant, and more true to the flavor, and so on. All he cared about was getting drunk enough to forget about whatever bullshit situation he had gotten himself into this time. 

As the bartender poured the drink in a skillful manner, Yasuo took note of the man in the back corner of the bar, who seemed to be rocking himself and nursing a bottle of dirt-cheap alcohol. He was either drunk out of his mind, paranoid as hell, or both. He kept muttering things to himself, and his bloodshot eyes stared out into empty space. 

“Is he quite all right?” Yasuo asked the bartender, subtly gesturing over to the man in the corner. 

“He’s perfectly fine,” the bartender reassured. “He’s been in and out of here like that for a few days. Keeps babbling nonsense about his sister, and the police, and whatever else. If he’s bothering you, I can send him home?” 

“No, it’s fine. Leave him.” Yasuo murmured, swirling the rest of the drink in his glass thoughtfully. He took another sip, continuing to examine the man in the corner of the room. He could only make out a few of the words he was mumbling to himself, but he was definitely intrigued. 

“Another round, please,” Yasuo said, sliding his glass over to the polite bartender. He nodded and picked up the glass immediately, refilling his cup up to the brim. Yasuo picked it up and took a sip, savoring the rich, smooth taste as he debated something in his mind. After a moment, he stood up, drink in hand. 

He walked over to the man in the corner, and as soon as he crossed the man’s line of sight he practically jumped through the roof. The man stared at Yasuo with panicked, bloodshot eyes, holding onto his bottle with a few sips of cheap beer left for dear life. “Jiang ain’t want nothin’ to do with you..” The man rambled, twitching nervously. 

Yasuo sat across from the panicked man, observing him carefully. He was already likely a man with severe untreated ADHD, judging by his nonstop fidgeting. There wasn’t a second where the man wasn’t tugging at the edge of his shirt, tapping his foot, readjusting his grip on the bottle, messing with his hair, or whatever else. That, paired with being drunk out of his mind and clearly paranoid about something was not a healthy mix. Yasuo worried for his sanity. 

“What’s going on?” Yasuo said as calmly as possible, taking another sip from his drink. “I just want to talk. You said something about your sister?” 

Jiang’s eyes darted nervously around the room. “Jiang’s sister gone missing nine days ago. Jiang saw what happened to her, but police not believe Jiang.” His fidgeting worsened, and he took another massive swig of beer.  
“I’ll believe you,” Yasuo said sincerely, trying to sound as genuine as possible. “Can you tell me what happened to her, Jiang?” He punctuated his sentence with a sip of his own drink, trying to mirror what Jiang had done earlier. 

Jiang suddenly lunged forwards, intending on leaning in very, very close to whisper something to him. It took all the self-control Yasuo had not to flinch away, especially at the alcohol on the man’s breath. “It was.. The _Golden Demon..”_ Jiang whispered dramatically. 

“The Golden Demon?” Yasuo asked, trying to keep his tone down to the same whisper Jiang used. “What’s that?” 

“It.. it killed- it killed Jiang’s sister! Jiang saw it do it!” The man half sobbed, downing the rest of his drink. 

Yasuo watched the man thoughtfully, trying to mask his increasing heart rate. Could this truly be an untapped lead to the murders going around? No one would believe this seemingly crazed man, but he served as what could potentially be the most useful lead in this entire investigation. Perhaps he did have an official excuse for going to a bar on company money. “Where did it kill your sister, Jiang?” 

Jiang shook his head, his fidgeting getting worse than ever. He tried to take another swig out of his empty bottle, but there wasn’t a droplet of liquid coping mechanism left. 

Yasuo straightened and shouted over to the bartender. “Another round of the same for me, please! And get my friend here a bottle of something a little pricier!”

The bartender nodded dutifully, happy to have yet another generous tourist with deep pockets visit his bar. When Yasuo turned back to look at Jiang, the man was staring at him as if he were an angel descended down from heaven. 

“Jiang.. can show you where.. If you’d like..” He said, still slightly in awe at such a vast show of generosity from a stranger. When the bartender walked over to hand both of them their drinks, Jiang stared at his drink as if it were the finest beverage he had ever seen. He still twitched, but he was finally distracted from his panic, drinking it in with his eyes before even tilting the bottle up towards his lips. 

Yasuo watched Jiang, trying to prevent a smirk from tugging at his lips. He had been in many situations over his life, and he had learned that generosity always worked better than intimidation. In addition, he had more than enough fighting and threatening for a lifetime, and reactions like these were something that soothed the bitterness deep within him, if only for a moment in time. 

Yasuo slouched back, letting the man enjoy what could be the finest brewery he had ever seen in peace. Yasuo took another few sips of his sake, which tasted much better since it was bought with company money, and watched the man take a few gulps at a time. Yasuo was no lightweight, but the buzz of alcohol had started to sound in the back of his head. He couldn’t imagine how Jiang was feeling right now in comparison. 

After a few minutes of more peace than either of them would enjoy in the near future, Yasuo stood up to return the glass and pay his tab. He cringed slightly at the total but pulled out the company credit card, glad to see that the heavy mark wouldn’t be shown anywhere near his personal account. 

Yasuo walked to the door, nodding politely at the bartender and then turning to look over at Jiang. “Jiang,” he called, “let’s get out of here.” 

Jiang reluctantly stood, shuffling out of the bar after Yasuo. He kept a death grip on the beer Yasuo had bought for him. It still held about a quarter left of the fine alcohol once contained within it, but he had a feeling that Jiang may hold onto it for sentimental value. He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that. 

Once they were out in the cold, Yasuo pulled his jacket a bit tighter around himself. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it definitely had gotten darker. He turned to the man accompanying him. “Lead the way,” he said simply. 

Jiang had a very anxious walking style. He kept his head down and walked briskly, continuing to fidget with the edge of his jacket. It was a miracle that he managed not to walk into any poles or into oncoming traffic, but he figured that he was keeping an eye ahead of him despite staring at the ground and being drunk out of his mind. 

Yasuo followed him fairly close behind, committing the way to get to the place Jiang was leading him to memory. He noted any particular landmarks or interesting buildings and always kept a hand on the emergency button on his investigation phone. Jiang seemed to be an anxious, yet good person, but Yasuo had learned to never trust anyone. It had saved his life countless times. 

The route seemed to be a bit longer than Yasuo hoped it would be, but that may be because the ground was swaying gently under him. He had done work while far drunker than this, but he couldn’t say it was his preferred investigation style. 

Jiang stopped suddenly. Yasuo steeled his feet into the ground so that he didn’t accidentally slam into him. “What is it?”

“Jiang always wait here for his sister to come home from work. She always walk home and work late, so Jiang always wait for her and walk with her.” 

“So, I’m assuming this didn’t happen as usual nine days ago..?” 

Jiang shook his head sadly. “No. Jiang stood at same corner as Jiang always does, and wait to see sister walk down towards Jiang.” He paused, fidgeting with his clothing once more. 

Yasuo watched him kick pebbles out of the cracks of the sidewalk and into the road. “So…” he prompted Jiang, “Did she not walk down this route?” 

“No, Jiang saw her come down the same road she always did.” He twitched anxiously. “Jiang was going to wave to his sister, but Jiang noticed she was running away. She wears high heels to work, so she would never usually run.” 

“So you did see her,” Yasuo clarified. “Did you see where she ran off too? Or what was chasing her?” 

Jiang nodded. “Jiang did see where she ran to, and Jiang followed her. Jiang didn’t know what chased her just yet.” 

Yasuo waved his arm out in front of him. “Take me there.” 

Jiang looked paralyzed, almost as if he was going to refuse. The neon shoplights behind him illuminated his terrified frame as he took another sip from his drink, now trying to ration the last remaining droplets. 

After a tense minute of silence, Jiang took a step forwards. And then, another step. Soon, he was leading Yasuo down the road and turned down to a darker alleyway. “Jiang’s sister work for big company. She had access to one of their big warehouses down here, so she ran into it. She was being chased.” He clarified as he began to walk towards the looming, run-down privatized warehouse at the edge of the alley.

As Yasuo caught a glimpse of the warehouse Jiang was leading him to, his heart sank. Yasuo wasn’t scared easily, but he loathed the fact he being led into what looked like the entrance of a cheap haunted house. The massive door of the building was cracked open, to both of their luck, so that they wouldn’t need to break in. Before they entered, Yasuo tried the handle and found it to be locked. He picked up a rather large stone and stuck it in the doorway so that even if the wind picked up the door couldn’t close in on them unless it was purposefully moved. The last thing Yasuo wanted was to be trapped inside of such a looming, dark warehouse. 

Yasuo took a deep breath and then stepped inside, holding the door open for Jiang to follow. Jiang stepped inside gingerly, holding his breath as his eyes darted around the room. “What happened here?” Yasuo asked, hating how his voice echoed endlessly along the walls of the giant warehouse. At that, he looked up, observing what the rest of the warehouse looked like now that his eyes had adjusted to the dim light. He immediately wished he hadn’t. 

Rows upon rows of boxes stacked on top of ceiling-high shelves bore down both of them, threatening to topple over and crush them at any minute. The warehouse was massive, but because every inch of it was packed with boxes, or shelves, or equipment, it made Yasuo’s claustrophobia flare up. How he wished he had the wind at his back. 

The warehouse was also poorly maintained. Spiderwebs and dust spread out everywhere, and the air was musty and hard to breathe. It was a miracle if more than one living being walked within its walls more than once a year. It unnerved Yasuo badly, even without the knowledge of the murder that occurred within its walls. 

Suddenly, Yasuo felt a pull at the edge of his ponytail. He jumped, whipping his head around, and his hand on the handle of his katana. Standing there with a guilty expression on his face was Jiang, and Yasuo breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn’t cut the poor man in half. He struck him with a quizzical expression. 

“Sorry,” Jiang said shamefully. “Jiang’s sister had a ponytail just like yours.” 

An ounce of pity found its way into Yasuo’s heart, and he sighed. “What happened after you found your way into the warehouse?” 

“Jiang heard a noise in the next section of the warehouse,” he gestured vaguely. “Jiang very careful, so Jiang snuck over to try and get a view without making any noise.”

“Where did you sneak over too?” Yasuo questioned, and Jiang beckoned him over. From crouched behind a shelf, he could see through a row of boxes into the next room over. There was a small clearing there, and Yasuo shuddered. So this was where Jiang had stood, watching his sister get murdered by this vicious “Golden Demon” as he could do nothing but watch. That, paired with the crushing atmosphere of this warehouse, explained why the poor man was so traumatized. 

Yasuo breathed out slowly. “Explain what this Golden Demon was like.. Why do you call by that name?” 

Jiang hesitated. He was trembling so bad but refused to fidget or tap his foot. Everything in the warehouse sounded a thousand times louder and more crushing than it actually was, and any sort of noise that broke the pressing aura of the warehouse struck fear and gloom into both of their hearts, although Yasuo seemed to be controlling it a bit better than Jiang was.

“Jiang was not the one to name the Golden Demon. Jiang heard whispers of it, but never believed them,” he shuddered. “How wrong of Jiang.”

Jiang paused for a moment, seemingly reliving the memory that took place just a few days ago in this very location. “The Golden Demon is definitely not human. Its body is distorted and inhuman, and its face.. Jiang couldn’t really see it, but it was cold, and lifeless, and expressionless. No human like that. Even worse, the demon seems to be consumed by gold. One of its limbs is entirely turned to gold, and golden marks accent the rest of its strange form. And its eyes…” Jiang paused, swallowing nervously. “Jiang could only see one of them, but Jiang swears it was glowing gold. Such a horrible creature. Jiang fears it was eating her.” 

Yasuo sent a silent thank you to whatever God was out there that Jiang did not see what the serial killer had actually done to her. It was a gruesome, perfectly planned dissection of the body, folds of flesh folding into flowers and.. A wave of nausea passed over Yasuo. Perhaps now was not the best time to remember the pictures Jackson showed back at the briefing he gave him just hours earlier. 

Instead, Yasuo focused on the description Jiang gave him. He knew how unreliable eyewitness testimony was, and how he could trust it even less due to the poor scope of vision and dim lighting of the room. Still, the story sounded pretty extreme. A beast, turning to gold and ravaging its prey. He could explain some of it- the hulking, distorted form, and lifeless face could easily be a mask, equipment, or other tools the serial killer used to conceal their identity or used for the slaughter. However, the parts where they seemed to be turning to gold and the glowing eyes? That was something Yasuo could not explain, and he dreaded visualizing it when it came time to sleep. He could also see why such a description would get him shoved away from the local police station, written down as the stories of a crazed drunkard. 

Yasuo needed to get a better look at the scene of the crime. He mentioned this to Jiang, and he nodded but refused to come any closer. Yasuo debated this, but he wasn’t going to force him to go and traumatize himself further, as much as he hated the idea of leaving him alone here. 

Yasuo straightened, unsheathing his katana as silently as he could to attempt to calm the growing pit of fear in his stomach. He walked solemnly through the entrance of the second room, and to the area, Jiang had labeled as the scene of the crime. 

The scent of blood filled the area, and he looked down, nauseated. The body had been removed, but the location was poorly cleaned, with half washed blood caking on the cement floor. He took another deep breath, and underneath the musk of blood and mildew of the rotting building, he caught a familiar scent. He breathed in and out a few more times, trying to place it until.. _Gunpowder._ That’s what it was. 

The body was already a bit rotted and mutilated nearly beyond recognition so an autopsy was near impossible, according to the description on the file. They suspected she had been stabbed to death, carved up in psychotic, yet elegant patterns while she was still alive. But the scent of gunpowder added an entirely new variable. A gun was rather hard to come by in these parts, and how was it used? Was she shot to death, and her corpse carved from there, or was she simply shot to stop running and bled out in a severely painful manner? Yasuo felt his stomach twist, and the amount of alcohol he consumed prior was not helping. 

Yasuo breathed in, trying to steady himself. He needed to investigate the scene further, trying to find any more details of the crime. He wished he had brought a flashlight, but the best he had was the dim glow of his phone to inspect the area with. This room was equally as big as the first yet just as claustrophobic, with overbearing walls and endless shelves. Using the phone light, he spotted a glint of gold out of the corner of his eye. 

He walked over to what seemed to be a very, very small piece of golden metal. It appeared to have broken off of something, and it was ample proof that Jiang’s gold description carried some weight behind it. He considered pocketing it for further investigation, but it was so clearly an omen of bad luck that he placed it back exactly where he found it. He would just commit it to memory and reference it later if he needed to. 

He felt the prickle of eyes on the back of his neck, an oddly familiar feeling. He could swear he was being watched, although it was likely just Jiang watching from the hiding spot he crouched in or his claustrophobia acting up. Regardless, he needed to get out of here _now,_ or else he feared the panic that would grasp his chest and cut off his breathing. 

He did one last brisk sweep with his phone light around the scene of the crime, making sure he didn’t miss anything and half praying that he didn’t as well. He walked out of the room briskly, using all of his self-control to not run out of there. He beckoned to Jiang, still feeling the phantom prickle of eyes on the back of his neck and it mixed with the paranoia he already had from the warehouse. 

Together, they practically ran out the door and out into the open, both of them releasing a breath they didn’t know they had held for so long. 

After a minute, and after the paranoia of being watched had dissipated, Yasuo broke the silence. “Thank you for showing me, Jiang.” He said, but the “thank you” part came out more like a question than he anticipated. “I will make sure that this Golden Demon is hunted down and brought to justice.” _Or, whatever form of ‘justice’ still exists in this world._ He thought to himself bitterly. 

Jiang looked stressed, exhausted, and traumatized out of his mind. He simply nodded. Yasuo felt a stab of guilt, as bringing back to the scene of the murder definitely did not do him any good. “Please allow me to walk you home. It isn’t safe for you to be alone, especially when you’re out at night and drunk.”

He shook his head. “Jiang has walked back home drunker than this. You need to go home as well. Jiang will be safe, and Jiang prefers that people do not know the location of Jiang’s home.” 

Yasuo sighed. He had a very bad feeling about letting a man like him go home alone, especially due to how late it was and how drunk he was. However, Yasuo could not deny that he was just as exhausted and also slightly drunk, plus he needed to note his findings. Plus, Jiang did have a right to privacy. “Fine, but let’s walk back to the corner together at the very least.” 

Thankfully, Jiang had no argument against that. Yasuo sheathed the katana in the careful way he had been trained to do so, and they were on their way, putting the ominous warehouse behind them. Yasuo kept looking back at it, making sure nothing was creeping up on them. It remained as lifeless and gloomy as ever. 

Before too long, they had reached the corner that Jiang walks his sister home from work at. He still had a bit of sway to his step, but the fear from the warehouse seemed to have sobered him up on pure survival instinct alone. Yasuo offered to walk him back one last time, but he refused once more, referencing how he had made the journey much later and much drunker before. 

So, after Jiang had bid him farewell, they headed opposite routes. Before too long, Yasuo had reached the hotel, and as the adrenaline faded, the pounding in his head started to rise. He hadn’t even slept and he was already starting to feel hungover. He nodded to the secretary, who had switched out in the time Yasuo was gone, and then opted to take the stairs yet again. The thought of getting into a cramped little box, especially after the warehouse, made him physically ill. 

He dragged himself up four flights of stairs, and finally to room 47. He got out his keycard, which miraculously wasn’t lost at some point during the night, and scanned it to open his room. He did a habitual check of all the locations someone, or something, could hide in his room but found it just as empty as when he had left it. 

He wanted to collapse into his bed, but he needed to shower first. It would be impossible to sleep with the layer of dust still on him paired with the scent of blood and gunpowder. So, he turned on the shower, pulling his hair down from the ponytail and drinking from the tap to try and soothe his drunken headache as he waited for the water to warm. He was thankful that the adrenaline had kept the buzz in his head to a minimum, but now it felt twice as bad given that he could slightly lower his guard. 

He showered quickly, using the cheap hotel provided products to wash over his skin and through his hair. He usually liked to think in the shower, but the only thing occupying his head was the buzz from the alcohol and the exhaustion that had spread from his limbs to his mind. After drying himself off, he put on fresh clothes to sleep in and scribbled a few notes from tonight on the provided notepad. He considered calling Jackson, but he was far too tired and hadn’t found enough to make a true report. 

‘jiang, gold metal, golden demon, gunpowder’

This was all he scribbled before moving the duffle bag off of his bed and diving under the clean sheets of the hotel’s bed, and he was out like a light before his head hit the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who needs yasuo/jhin when you have yasuo/jiang


	3. Chapter 3

Yasuo was jolted awake by an unfamiliar ringtone. He squinted in the dark, eyes burning as he tried to puzzle out what numbers the bedside clock displayed. It was only 5:43 in the morning and doing the math on how few hours of sleep he had gotten would only make him feel worse. 

The ringtone sounded once more, and Yasuo grabbed in its direction, discovering that it was the security agency’s work phone that was ringing. Delirious, he picked up the phone and put it close to his ear. “Hello…” Yasuo called in a croaky, sleep-deprived voice. 

“Yasuo.” Jackson’s voice sounded on the other end, a tone of unmistakable urgency flickering through his voice. “Come quickly. There’s been another murder, and we want you to help analyze the crime scene this time. A car is waiting outside your hotel to bring you to the location.” And with no further explanation than that, there was a click as he hung up. 

This was enough to shock him awake, a bit of unease gathering deep in his stomach. He forced himself out of bed quickly, giving himself only a few minutes to wash his face, tie his hair back up in a ponytail, slide on some clothes and a new jacket, and get out the door. He made sure his katana and work phone were secured with him, and practically ran down the flight of stairs, trying to get his blood pumping so he wasn’t groggy when it came time to investigate the crime scene. 

As Jackson had promised, there was a black car waiting outside for him. He got in the back, half expecting the driver from last night to be there, but it was someone he didn’t recognize. He seemed to be a lot more friendly, politely greeting Yasuo as he climbed in and even handed Yasuo a cup of coffee. He accepted it gratefully, still squinting out into the dark because of how exhausted he was. 

As soon as Yasuo had gotten settled, the driver started to accelerate, thankfully at a slower rate than his past chauffeur. He wasn’t really in the mood for some morning whiplash. Yasuo sunk back into his seat, taking a sip of the coffee and closing his eyes. It was too sweet for his taste, Yasuo tended to take his coffee black or with as little sweetener as possible. After all, the most efficient way to wake up was if it felt like your drink had decked you in the jaw the first time you sipped it. 

Still, coffee was coffee, and he was grateful that the driver had gotten some for him, although more likely than not he was just following Jackson’s orders. As he drank, he tried to center his mind as much as possible, as he knew he was in for a very stressful morning. The buzz from the alcohol was still there, although thankfully less intense, and a pit of anxiety was already beginning to form. He tried to keep his mind off the topic for as long as possible before he arrived, otherwise he knew he would work himself into a panic before too long. 

He finished the rest of the coffee, the caffeine slowly starting to take effect, and he frowned as he began to recognize his surroundings. This was around the same route Jiang and Yasuo had walked just the night prior, and he wondered where the scene of the crime happened. Not once in all nine murders did the serial killer murder in the same place twice. However, it looked like he was being driven to the exact same warehouse as the one he had investigated just the night before. Was it just coincidence, or did the killer break a pattern on the tenth victim? 

If his theory based on his surroundings were correct, Yasuo and Jiang were very, _very,_ lucky. They must’ve just missed the murderer and his next victim by the time they left. 

However, the theory Yasuo was putting together in his mind crumbled as the driver passed the street Yasuo and Jiang had turned on to get to the warehouse last night. So the Golden Demon had decided to retain his pattern yet again.

The driver took a few more turns but to his surprise didn’t go as far away from the warehouse as he expected him to. The ominous building couldn’t have been more than a few blocks away from the area the driver began slowing down towards. From the tinted windows of the vehicle, Yasuo could see a swarm of similar black cars, two of which were blocking traffic on either entrance of the road. They moved aside to allow the driver through. 

The driver pulled to a stop right in front of where Jackson stood outside, waiting for him. A few unfamiliar federal investigators swept the area, but there wasn’t a single local officer or civilian in sight. 

Yasuo began to get out of the car, thanking the driver for the ride and the coffee. The driver nodded politely and told him to leave the cup in the car. He obliged and slammed the door closed, a few seconds later the driver pulled off without a backward glance. 

As Yasuo walked up to Jackson, he called out a greeting to the tired music producer. “Good morning.” 

“Don’t know so much about ‘good’ there Jackson, but morning to you as well,” Yasuo replied, shoving his hands in his coat pockets to liberate them from the cold. “What’s going on here?” 

“Well, a few hours ago, a woman in an apartment reported a noise complaint to the local police,” Jackson began. “A few weeks ago, we told the local authorities that any calls coming from this district were to be forwarded and responded to by us alone. You know we don’t want the locals to get tangled up in all this, and frankly, I think they’re glad to get a little less work to do.” 

“Right. And if it were something as insignificant as noise, I wouldn’t be here at ass in the morning.” Yasuo said, trying to guide him back on topic.

“Correct. Since it was just a noise complaint, we only sent out one officer, and he wasn’t really in a hurry. No one likes working nights. However,” Jack grimaced “he stumbled upon another serial killer victim in the same style as all the others. It has to be him.” 

Yasuo nodded solemnly. “Take me there. Where is the crime scene located?” 

“We have it blocked off right now, they’re trying to look for DNA samples and run some type of identification on the victim, but the scene is mostly untouched.” Jackson handed him some personal protection equipment, starting with gloves and a K95 mask. He also handed him some shoe coverings to prevent contamination. “Put these on. It should prevent anything dangerous from the crime scene from getting on you, and anything from you getting on the crime scene.”

It took about a minute for Yasuo to slide on all of the equipment. Afterward, he straightened, ready to simply bite the bullet and start the investigation, but Jackson paused. He reached out to put a hand on Yasuo’s shoulder. “Let me just warn you, Yasuo. Seeing a crime scene like this is nothing like the pictures. It will mess with you if you aren’t prepared.” 

Yasuo turned back at him to stare him seriously in the eyes. “Jackson. I would know better than most, believe me. I’m prepared.” He and the head of security exchanged wordless communication for a moment, and then Jackson sighed, having nothing to dispute his point with. 

“Very well. Follow me, it’s over on this side of the alley. You can’t see it from here thanks to the cars we have blocking it all off.” 

They wordlessly made their way over to the crime scene, and Yasuo ducked down under a few lines of caution tape. The lighting in this area was much harsher due to the sheer density of cars and bright headlights illuminating it all. After awkwardly brushing by a few crime scene forensic scientists, they came in full few of the murder in all its twisted glory. 

The first thing Yasuo noticed when he looked upon the body wasn’t the blood, or the look of disgust upon the investigator’s faces, or the choking scent of iron in the air. It was how the body was displayed. Legs crossing over one another elegantly, the fluid motion of how his torso stretched out across the ground, with one arm displaying an open palm next to his waist and the other in a clenched fist, rising high above his head. It looked like the victim was a dancer, and was struck down during an elegant choreography. The Golden Demon had seen an artistic vision before him, and he cut it out of the shell this person had contained themselves within, allowing them to find their freedom and beauty in death. 

This was not the workings of a madman, but an artist. What the files hadn’t stated beforehand was how each part of these murders contributed to one fanatical meaning, such as the gesture lines of blood crisscrossing the victim’s body and pouring out onto the ground beneath them, as if they were dancing through ribbons of red silk.

Every detail, from the grotesque beauty one could observe at first glance down to the most minute pieces the average eye would miss, this was a twisted masterpiece. Yasuo could spend hours analyzing this depiction of freedom and miss countless things the Golden Demon was trying to communicate to his audience. Jiang was oh-so-wrong in describing his murder style as a beast enjoying a meal, this was an artist’s finest work, a painstakingly detailed composition. 

_Jiang._ Yasuo’s stomach twisted in a horrifying knot. 

It had been hard to identify at first, through all of the blood and the mystical composition displayed by the scene, but there was no mistake. The subject of the Golden Demon’s 10th murder was none other than the man Yasuo had spent most of the previous night with, only here he was grotesquely mutilated without a fraction of the spirit Jiang had shown just a few hours earlier. 

Yasuo made a choking noise in the back of his throat. Had Yasuo sent the man to his death? If he had left him alone in the corner of the bar, would Jiang still be alive? Why did Yasuo allow him to refuse his offer to walk him home? If he were there, Yasuo could have defended him. What if they had switched places, and Yasuo was the one to have walked down this alley? What his body be here now, elegantly displayed in a vision only the Golden Demon himself could understand? 

Waves of grief and bitter fear crashed over him, gripping his lungs and making it difficult to breathe. Jackson put a hand on his shoulder once more. “I know this type of thing is hard to process, Yasuo. I can get you out of here if you need to.” He began, but Yasuo shook his head. 

“I-It’s not that..” He choked out. “I.. I _know_ him…” 

If the room had been tense before, this was an entirely new level. Yasuo watched Jackson’s blood turn to ice, and every forensic scientist in earshot froze, suddenly finding somewhere else to look.

“Are you sure?” Jackson asked solemnly, and when Yasuo nodded, he added “How?” 

“When I first got here,” Yasuo began shakily, “I did some investigation on my own. This man’s name is Jiang, and his sister was murdered by the Golden Demon as well.” At this, a murmur passed through some of the other investigators. “I spoke to him just a few hours earlier…” 

A few beats of silence passed. “Yasuo, it looks like we have a lot to talk about. Come with me.” Jackson directed, but Yasuo shook his head. 

“With all due respect, I never want to look at this ever again,” Yasuo said through gritted teeth. “Please allow me to analyze Ji-..the body while I’m here now. I will only be a few minutes.” 

Jackson hesitated a moment, and then nodded, turning out of the crime scene and back to where the cars were collected. Another security agent stared at Yasuo for a few moments, then turned on his heel and stalked after Jackson. No one else made any sort of eye contact with Yasuo. 

Yasuo shuffled over, a single half step at a time, to where Jiang’s body was displayed. He knelt down next to it, trying to prevent his face from twisting into one of utter repulsion beneath the mask. He started as far away from Jiang’s face as he could, inspecting the torn calves and the blood caked onto the pants he wore. 

As much as he didn’t want to, Yasuo forced himself to breathe deeply, and just as he anticipated, the scent of faint gunpowder was there once more. Yasuo suspected that Jiang had been shot in the calf from behind, toppling the already drunk man over. Then, his calves had been slashed to potentially disguise the clean bullet hole for reasons Yasuo did not understand. No one understands their work as well as the artist themselves, he supposed. 

He felt his eyes trying to glaze themselves over so he didn’t have to focus on what he was seeing. He grit his teeth, forcing himself to look over his exhaustion and his awful mixture of negative emotions. He kept his eyes sharp, looking for hidden details within the Golden Demon’s work. The smell of blood was repulsive, yet bitterly familiar. 

From the corner of his eye, he spotted something on the hand closest to Jiang’s waist. On the open palm lay an intricate carving of a lotus blossom. He picked up Jiang’s hand to get a better look at it and felt a shudder crawl down his spine at how lifeless it was. He tilted it, using a gloved finger to pick off some of the dried blood on his hand to get a better look at the unmistakable shape.

It was elegantly carved, most likely after Jiang was already dead due to how clean and unshaken the lines were. Yasuo had no idea what the image could symbolize, or if it were a signature of some kind. It bitterly reminded him of a few buried memories from back home. 

He placed down Jiang’s arm as carefully as he could and then moved up to the clenched fist Jiang made above his head to see if there was a matching carving there. He carefully spread his palm open, expecting another lotus blossom, but felt another icy wave of fear drip through his entire body. 

Inside of Jiang’s clenched fist, he was holding a piece of golden metal. In fact, it was the exact same piece of metal that Yasuo had picked up then replaced at the warehouse. On one of its flat surfaces, an intricate carving of the letter “Y” stared back at him, clear as day. 

This tiny piece of metal communicated more than anything else in this deadly composition. The scrap of gold changed this from just another victim to a form of communication. It revealed that the Golden Demon himself had been watching Yasuo and Jiang investigate the crime scene last night and that the prickle of paranoia he had felt wasn’t just paranoia. It also said that the Golden Demon knew exactly who he was, given that he had carved his first initial into the unmarked piece of gold Yasuo had picked up. 

In addition, this body and this scrap of metal marked a challenge. It was perfectly clear that the Golden Demon had every opportunity to kill them both, and in Jiang’s case, he did. Instead, the serial killer had forced Yasuo into a game, marked by a clear invitation. He didn’t know what the rules entailed just yet, but he knew what the consequence was for losing. 

Due to his immensely terrible luck, Yasuo had somehow captured the attention of the Golden Demon. He was being played with, and the very first kill made for him marked that there were no boundaries in this game. The serial killer had be caught soon, or there was no telling how much worse this could get. 

Yasuo made sure that none of the scientists were looking at him and then pocketed the golden scrap. He then straightened, having had enough of the scene. He had discovered most of what he needed to, and being around Jiang’s body nauseated him by the second. 

Yasuo left the scene, walking in the direction he saw Jackson leave in. Soon enough, Jackson and the other agent came into view, both silent. The unfamiliar agent had his arms crossed against his chest, and Jackson was staring solemnly at the ground. 

Yasuo cleared his throat to make his presence known, and both of them immediately looked over at him. The expression on the unfamiliar agent worsened, and Jackson turned towards him tiredly. “So, what did you discover last night? How do you know this man?” 

He leaned against the side of a car and then began to recount the story from last night. Everything from the bar, to who Jiang was and who he was connected to, their journey to the warehouse and the description of his sister, down to the scrap of gold, the gunpowder in the air, and their eventual parting of ways. 

After mentioning the scrap of gold, he pulled the same scrap out of his pocket, describing his findings on Jiang’s body. He didn’t go fully in depth about what he thought the scrap meant, but he did establish it was likely some form of communication or mockery. 

When he finished his description, Jackson nodded thoughtfully, but the other agent rolled his eyes. “I’m unconvinced.” 

Yasuo squinted at him, confused. He had worded his story fairly well and had been truthful as possible, only leaving a few unimportant ideas or theories out of it all. 

“What do you mean by…’unconvinced?’” Jackson asked the agent curiously. 

“Well, if I didn’t think I was the only one who realized it, but this investigation is going nowhere. And he,” the clearly short-tempered man said, jabbing a finger in his direction, “is quite obviously the best lead on this case.”

“Just because he may be a good lead doesn’t make him automatically guilty. Where’s your proof, Brandon?” 

Brandon huffed, crossing his arms once more. “Everything seems to measure out. Even when you ignore the fact that you sent Yasuo into the area, and then a few hours later a man that HE HIMSELF confirmed he was with right before he died, the place Yasuo and the rest of K/DA are staying is close enough to where you could drive over to this area and make it back within the night! We’d never even notice he was gone! It’s not like we check to see if he _stays_ in his hotel room once he walks in.” 

He sent another shooting glare in Yasuo’s direction. “Plus, it’s not like he’s anywhere near a model citizen. Criminal history and shady circumstances seem to follow him everywhere. Why should we let him off just because he’s a celebrity? I was always against letting him anywhere near K/DA the second I glanced at his background check.”

Jackson gazed sorrowfully in Yasuo’s direction but said nothing. Brandon continued on. “And this? The metal piece with his initial in the victim’s hand? This is a signature, a mockery not at him but at us! He’s playing us for fools and wondering how long he can stretch his luck. If we let him continue, it won’t be long until a member of K/DA turns up dead.” 

A bubble of irritation popped in Yasuo’s chest. He wanted to spit back a biting reply to Brandon’s accusatory, far-fetched theory, but Jackson cut him off before he could vocalize it. “Thank you for your input, Brandon. I will consider what you’ve had to say, but for now, could you give me some time alone with Yasuo?” 

Brandon looked annoyed that Jackson wasn’t leaping to put Yasuo in cuffs. He got up, but on his way out, he snarled over at Jackson, “You can buy into what he says, but you mark my words, if you don’t put him as a suspect I WILL report a failure of duty as head of security, Jackson. Too many lives have been lost for us to go easy.” With that, he swept out of the area.

“I’ve always hated that guy,” Jackson sighed, looking apologetically over at Yasuo. 

“Can’t imagine why, I found him to be quite charming,” Yasuo said sarcastically. “So Jack, what’s your plan in all this?” 

Jack took his time to debate over a few options, before slowly saying “Yasuo, I trust you. I’ve always had good instincts, and they’re still just unwavering with you. We need you for this investigation, and I don’t plan to take you out of it.” He hesitated. “However, we do need you to move to a different hotel. It’s clear that this Golden Demon knows where you are, so we need you to move for your own safety. And, well, I have to put you in a different location to put you as a suspect down on paper.” He said apologetically. 

“A suspect? Tell me, does the hotel you’re thinking of look anything like a jail cell?” Yasuo narrowed his eyes. “I don’t tend to do too well in those..” 

“No, no.” Jackson waved his arms reassuringly. “It’s just a new hotel, to keep you safe and Brandon off our tails. You won’t have restrictions on where you can go or when you can leave. We need you investigating this, you’ve made more progress overnight than we have in weeks.” 

Yasuo calmed the spike of aggression that was building in his chest at this. “Fine. I just hope I’ll catch on to something good before something like this happens again.” 

“I know you will, Yasuo. If there’s anyone on the planet who can bring this “Golden Demon” to justice, it’s you.” 

Yasuo stared off into the bright lights of the forensics unit, watching as they attempted to find any type of track or fingerprint that could get them some conclusive evidence about the physical being of the murderer. However, deep down Yasuo knew it was fruitless. A slip of DNA evidence would not be what brought this psychopathic artist to justice. 

He sighed, wondering if the unwavering faith Jack had in him was misplaced. 

“I hope so, Jackson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for commenters such as MapleLokidottir and Jnd_719, they're the real reason I was able to get through this next one so quickly! Hope you enjoyed <3


	4. Chapter 4

_ Yasuo had found himself backed into a corner. He was surrounded by dark stone, the claustrophobic atmosphere pressing in on him at all angles. Blood pooled at his feet, soaking into his shoes and filling the air with its choking, miserable atmosphere. There was so much of it, and its source lay only a few feet from where he stood.  _

_ He looked over at it, expecting to see Jiang’s artfully mutilated body, but instead saw his brother’s, just as mangled and twisted as the way Yasuo had left it years before. Grief caught in his throat, and it choked him, gasping for breath in the thick, iron-rich air.  _

_ The noises he made while struggling for breath as the guilt pressed into his lungs and closed his throat alerted a beast, who had been looming over Yone’s body. With horror, Yasuo watched as it dropped his brother’s severed hand, which in turn opened to drop a golden scrap of metal onto the blood soaked ground. The hungry pool filled in all the crevices of the metal, until the “Y” initial shone clearer to him than the metallic shine itself.  _

_ It sunk into the ground as the beast began to stalk towards him. Its form was ever changing, shifting from a hungry white wolf that bore dripping red fur, to a humanlike horned creature with menacing teeth, to a demonic, ramlike being whose very flesh was turning to gold by the second.  _

_ Yasuo stumbled backward, trying to run in fear, but the weight of the guilt was so crushing that he struggled to breathe. The stench of blood was so thick that he was being choked by it, not a single drop of oxygen in the atmosphere to be found. He only got a few steps forwards before gasping with exhaustion, and a few seconds later his footing failed and he slipped in the copious pools of blood on the stone ground.  _

_ He gasped, begging for air as he whipped around, reaching for his katana. The one thing that always by his side had deserted him and he was left entirely defenseless as the Golden Demon, whose very form now dripped with blood, leaped towards him, menacing golden death poised right for his throat as he choked out a gurgled scream- _

_ “Yasuo! Focus!” Jackson bellowed before him, Yasuo now backed into a wall. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and standing in the corner of an interrogation room, the light in his eyes cruel and blinding. “All five members, Yasuo! All of K/DA! You said you would help me protect them, yet you murdered them! I  _ trusted  _ you Yasuo; I gave you so many chances!”  _

_ “No, listen to me- it wasn’t me! Please, just let me explain.” He begged the figure in front of him, which now the amalgamation of the countless people he betrayed in the past- Yone, his master, his mother, Jiang, Jackson.  _

_ “Is this what you are, Yasuo? We trusted you to protect us, and this is what you do. You really are a monster. Look at yourself.”  _

_ He looked down, and to his horror, he saw his katana in his hands, the blood grove of the weapon dripping with its intended purpose. He breathed in sharply, trying to push the desecrating liquid off of his weapon, but twice as much just refilled its place.  _

_ He glanced up again, finding himself in yet another location. It was the hotel room he had been moved into, but only just now did he realize he forgot to sweep the area before collapsing in bed. He walked nervously towards the closet, ready to check every nook and cranny for something out to kill him, and suddenly felt a presence behind him.  _

_ Before he could fully turn around, the presence wrapped its arms around his waist, pulling him into a tight embrace. “Yasuo,” the familiar buttery smooth voice purred.  _

_ He felt his heart leap into his throat as the assistant’s gloved hands started to slide their way up his shirt, a weak noise of surprise escaping him as he felt the assistant’s weight start to press him down. “Do not resist me.” He whispered to him. A shock of attraction sparked its way down his spine, the touch so unfamiliar but so heavily desired.  _

_ He leaned his neck back as those long, elegant gloved fingers started to gently wrap around his throat, touch as light as feathers until- _

Until Yasuo shocked awake, the electricity still shooting down his spine as he sunk his nails into the plush material of the hotel comforter. He froze there for a moment, laying on his stomach and trying to analyze what the fuck his mind just dreamt up. 

Some of it was easier to explain than others, although none of it was easy to process. He has had dreams of his brother in the past, although it had been quite some time. That nightmare was never old and quite undying, the last vengeance of Yone from beyond the grave. The amalgamation of faces wasn’t new either, but it was certainly chilling. He tried to keep all thoughts of his home in Ionia out of his head as much as possible, but it wasn’t always successful. 

However, Jackson being added to the mix was definitely a new and unwelcome feature, alongside the awful accusation of murdering the members of KDA. The investigation, paired with Brandon’s accusations, must’ve gotten to him more than he thought. He could write that out of his mind fairly easily, however, when compared to the first half of the dream. 

The beginning of the dream was easily the worst for him, despite its awful contenders. The shifting amalgamation of beings, each more terrifying than the last as he tried to assign a physical identity to the Golden Demon Jiang had described. The stench of blood was still in his nose, long after the dream had shifted and he had woken up. 

Yasuo had refused therapy for years, but if this investigation was to start causing nightmares like that, he may have to reconsider. 

There was one part of his dream that he had avoided thinking over until the very end. Yasuo had always avoided relationships, the thought of growing close to another human being sickened him, especially after what had happened to the other people he, in his childhood naivety, had allowed to grow so dear to his heart. Even without the risk of them getting harmed- by himself or otherwise- aside, there wasn’t a soul on Earth who would love him after what he had done. 

Covering his past up was exhausting, especially while grappling with confusing thoughts about his sexuality in all aspects. So, avoiding relationships was just easier, and came naturally in the end. As he grew more popular, the sharp influx of fans on Twitter and other social media only contributed to his feeling of isolation, and how truly different he was from the rest of the planet. 

The crippling loneliness had left him with a bitter feeling in his chest that never truly went away, but protecting the ones he cared about always eased the pain, if only for a little while. In addition, his repressed sexuality hated him for it, and it always reared its ugly face in the strangest of ways. Like, for example, yearning for a smooth talking stagehand that he didn’t even know on a first name basis. 

His spine tingled yet again as he began to visualize the ending of the dream. There wasn’t much of it to hang on to, and it was already slipping away as he couldn’t imagine the assistant’s voice to that perfect octave.

Something like this could never happen in real life, but oh, if he let himself imagine.. The smooth, reassuring voice as he pressed Yasuo down slowly, the tantalizing touches he would light Yasuo’s body aflame on, how he would try to squirm into his grip, begging for something more while the gloved stagehand remained cruel and painstakingly slow as ever…

Suddenly, the hotel room phone rang and it jolted Yasuo out of his fantasy. Yasuo let out a long breath.  _ God, that could have gotten bad quick.  _ He lay there for a moment longer, and on the second ring, he rolled over to answer it. 

“Hello!” The secretary on the other end said cheerily. “Your room service request will be up in 5 minutes, would you like us to come on in or leave it at the door?” 

“Wrong room,” Yasuo muttered. “I didn’t order room service.” 

“It says here that you did! Room 54, order for Yasuo at 3pm.” The bubbly woman on the other end of the line paused. “Oh wow, like THE Yasuo? True Damage and all that?” 

Yasuo groaned inwardly. Apparently, the hotel the security agency had moved him into was more culturally relevant. Great.

“Ooh, but I would have definitely recognized you if it were you placing the order,” she said dreamily. “It must’ve been someone from one of your prestigious agencies.” 

Yasuo sighed. She was probably right on that, minus the “prestige” part. “Can you tell me what the person placing the order looked like?” 

“Uh, he had black hair.” 

“Great, that narrows it down a ton,” Yasuo said sarcastically. It was tough to name someone in the agency who didn’t have black hair, save for maybe Jackson. 

“Glad to help!” She said on the other end, entirely missing the sarcasm. “Could you repeat your order preference one more time for me?” 

“Just leave it at the door,” he sighed. Who the hell let strangers waltz into their room anyway? The hotel really had to call them over  _ this?  _

“It’ll be up shortly!” And with that, there was a click on the other end, and Yasuo put the hotel’s phone back down. The woman’s overly bubbly voice threatened to give him a headache, especially so early in the..afternoon..Well. 

Yasuo slid out of bed, and after a moment's consideration, decided to call Jackson up on his work phone. He had never gotten him room service before, and he may as well call him up and question what he did to deserve the change. 

Jackson answered on the first ring. “Everything okay, Yasuo? Doing any better from this morning?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Is that why you guys called up room service?” There was an awkward beat of silence. “I, uh, appreciate it?” He added. 

“Yasuo.. We didn’t order you anything? You know that the credit card I gave you is for any of your finances. Are you sure they just didn’t just deliver it to the wrong room?” 

Yasuo paused, concerned. “No, I’m positive. They said it was an order made to my exact room with my name.” 

Jackson was silent for a minute. “This may be more malicious than it seems. We just moved you into that hotel, and I don’t think there were any fans around that early in the morning who may have caught what your room number is. This could mean an outsider has breached private information. As for how much, I don’t know, but they definitely know something as secure as where a private investigator’s secret location is.” 

Jack hesitated a second longer, before adding “We’ll head over there to check the security footage. Do not eat any of the food they give you, we don’t know how safe it could be.” 

“Alright, I understand. I’ll talk to you later.” Yasuo pushed the “end call” button before Jackson could tell him something stupid, such as “don’t leave the hotel until we verify who it is.” 

Setting the phone back down, he walked over to the bathroom, deciding to wash his face so he could fully wake up. His hair was still damp from the shower he took this morning after the crime scene, but it was probably easier to put up in a ponytail now than it was then. After he washed his face, he reached for his comb but heard a knock at the door. 

He straightened up, waiting to hear the sound of footsteps trail off before walking to the door and opening it a fraction of the way. There was nothing out there, save for a streaming tray of food. He glanced around carefully, and then brought the tray inside, closing the door and locking it back shut. 

He carried the tray over to the small table the hotel room provided, and set it down, inspecting it. It was a simple meal, a small bowl of soup with a half sandwich and a cup of tea to compliment. It looked innocent enough, as nonpoisonous as hotel food could get. 

He noticed a slip of paper tucked towards the side of the tray. It was a printed receipt, tallying up the cost of the food, when the order was placed and set to be delivered, and strangely, at the bottom, there was a section labeled “order notes.” 

The order notes section was simple, only holding three words:

“House, sweet house.” 

Yasuo frowned at it. It was a misspelling of the common phrase “home sweet home,” although he couldn’t imagine why even a correct version of the phrase would have a place on something like a personalized receipt, much less an incorrect version. 

Yasuo glanced over the rest of the receipt. The order had been placed hours in advance, and paid for in advance, although this alone could not help him figure out the meaning behind the seemingly pointless gift. 

He glanced at the tray once more. The food didn’t appeal to him, but he did enjoy drinking tea when he woke up. He picked up the steaming cup and inspected it. It wasn’t like the person who had ordered the meal had any contact with the food itself, and there wasn’t a secret “please poison the tea” message to the chef in the order. 

He took a sip of tea, relishing the burning hot drink that seemed to spread warm energy throughout his entire body. Even if it was poisoned, death by hot tea was definitely not the worst way he could think of. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with all this bullshit if he was dead. 

He turned his attention back to the printed receipt, taking another sip of tea. There had to be more to this than what meets the eye. Why go through all of the trouble of breaching the agency’s security, traveling all the way to the hotel to place the order in person, spending your own money, and then typing out a phrase to include with the order notes at the end. What would the purpose of all of this trouble be, and who would do it? 

A crazed fan wasn’t entirely out of the question, as he had dealt with many in the past. Although, a fan wouldn’t be so cryptic with their message. Someone from back home who was hunting him down would have invaded his room as he slept, rather than just placing a cryptic order for room service and then leaving. Who else would try to communicate with Yasuo, especially in such a strange and roundabout manner? 

A chill passed over his skin. There was one other party that would potentially try to communicate with Yasuo, and he had already done so, in a similar cryptic way. Could the Golden Demon himself have placed this order, just to toy with him further? 

It would make sense. It was clear that the Golden Demon was trying to establish some form of communication with the music producer, and his style was very distinct and cryptic. It would take only the sharpest of minds to truly understand his message, meaning the message could be seen by multiple people such as the secretary and chef without it meaning anything to them.

In addition, it completely removed the potential for strings leading back to him. The order was paid in cash, meaning no credit card history, and the message itself was printed out, meaning no handwriting link. In addition, the secretary, rather than the man himself, was the only one who handled the slip of paper, eliminating fingerprints. If Yasuo’s theory was true, the Golden Demon had successfully sent a communicated message, only to be understood by Yasuo, in a way that would entirely isolate him from being caught while still verifying that it was the real thing that sent the message. 

_ Damn, he’s good.  _ Yasuo thought to himself. It would certainly fit the Golden Demon’s style, and only further reaffirm Yasuo’s speculation of just how intelligent this serial killer was. However, there was one last link in the chain: Yasuo himself. The Golden Demon had assumed that Yasuo was sharp enough to understand his communication. He clearly had developed some strange fixation with him, and perhaps he was testing if he were as worthy as an opponent as he hoped. 

If this was a test, what if Yasuo couldn’t figure out the solution, or decided to ignore the message? What was the cost of failing? Would the Golden Demon simply write him off as a batty celebrity and eliminate him?

He took another look at the receipt, but this time through the focused lens of the Golden Demon. What on here would be something only he and Yasuo could understand? It had to have something to do with the order notes. The Golden Demon was far too intelligent to have mistakenly misphrased such a common saying, so there must be something hidden within the three simple words. 

Was it a cipher of some sort? A reference to a passage, or a popular book in the room? He thought long and hard about it, mentally switching the letters back and forth, referencing other sections of the receipt, but was fairly unsuccessful. 

His mind wandered further. What was something that only he and the Golden Demon truly knew about? He thought about the bar where he first heard the name, of Jiang and his sister, the alleyway he found his body, the warehouse-

_ Oh.  _

The warehouse could very likely be part of the message. It was where the Golden Demon had committed a murder in the past, it was where Yasuo had found the piece of golden metal that later became the first formal communication from him, and if Yasuo’s theory was correct, it was the first place the Golden Demon had observed him from a distance. 

In addition, it would solve the riddle within the printed message. A common phrase that switched out “home” for “house.” It wasn’t much of a stretch to believe that the Golden Demon had done this to draw attention to the word “house,” and by extent, the location of the warehouse: something only Yasuo would understand, even if someone else had also cracked the code. 

So, the Golden Demon had gone through all of the trouble of creating a code, putting himself in public and at risk, all to tell Yasuo to go to the warehouse. If Yasuo complied, what would he find there? Another body? The Golden Demon himself? Or was he walking into his own death? 

Yasuo finished the cup of tea, placing the empty shell next to the food the Golden Demon had ordered him. For some reason, Yasuo didn’t truly believe his own life would be in danger if he went to the warehouse. The serial killer clearly had some type of fixation on him, why go through all the trouble to establish multiple cryptic messages, only to kill Yasuo a few days in? In addition, he had multiple opportunities to kill him yet he had refused. 

However, Yasuo knew it was best if he went alone. The last time he went to the warehouse, he survived but his companion did not. He wasn’t quite sure if he could take a repeat of that- he was still wracked with guilt from Jiang, and it was all he could not to fall into yet another spiral of grief. Once he fell in, there was no climbing out. Yasuo was fairly certain part of himself was still lost in the same spiral he felt for Yone. 

If he told Jackson what he discovered, he would likely forbid him from going or force security agents to go with him. He would either miss the opportunity entirely or cost more lives, so Yasuo decided it was a do first apologize later type situation. 

Yasuo decided he would head to the warehouse. Alone. 

He did, however, make sure the work phone was fully charged and that he knew where the emergency signal was. If things went sour, it was good to have. He stood up from the table, leaving the rest of the food untouched, and went to his bag. He put on a dark gray button up shirt and some black pants, then secured his hair up in a ponytail after running a brush through it. Lastly, after pocketing the phone, he tied his katana and its  _ saya _ to his side, making it clear he was able to defend himself if needed.

This hotel was only a few blocks further than the last one was from the warehouse. 

He had only been there once before, but he had a very strong sense of direction: after all, a wanderer like him couldn’t get lost.

Once he reached the street corner he and Jiang had hesitated at, he paused, finding himself stricken with the same anxiety that seemed to have grasped Jiang right where he now stood. He remembered how terrifying the atmosphere was. He had spent so little time there but he knew how full of dread it was. He found himself thinking of Jiang more and more as he approached the fateful location, and he started to get second thoughts about it all. 

But he pushed on. He was the only one who could do this, and it would move a hopeless investigation along further than ever. He wasn’t just doing it for himself, he was doing it for the members of K/DA, for the millions of fans around the world, for the dozens of people already fallen victim and those who would in the future, for Jiang, and everyone else the Golden Demon’s cruelty would touch. 

Before he was ever truly ready, he found himself standing before the doors of the looming warehouse. It was exactly as he had left it that fateful night, with the same stone preventing the door from slamming closed. He took a deep breath, and reached for the handle, knowing that if he hesitated here he would spend the rest of his days frozen in time before the entrance. 

He took a step inside the doors, breathing in the musty air of the near-abandoned warehouse. It was dim, but not as dark as it had been when he and Jiang had visited it in the dead of night. He moved silently, scanning the aisles and the columns of boxes stacked on top of one another quickly, looking for any disturbances or things out of the ordinary. So far, it was eerily silent, and everything was entirely untouched. 

He continued to creep along, looking for any clues, a scrap or two of metal, even a spray of blood. So far, he found nothing, and that creeped him out more than the looming potential of the Golden Demon’s 11th victim. He explored the first room for as long as he could bear, but soon realized the most likely location that he would find something. 

The second room.

The site of the murder, the place Yasuo had found the scrap of golden metal, the place the Golden Demon likely observed him for the first time. If there was anything here at all, it would be there. 

He made his way towards the opening of the second room. It seemed to stretch for a thousand feet before him, but he still arrived far too soon. Holding his breath, he took a single, tentative step forwards into the room. Nothing happened. 

He forced himself to walk over to where the scene of the crime was. He grit his teeth and put his left hand on the  _ saya _ and the right hand on the handle of the katana. He didn’t know why he was shaking so badly, but he tried to force his hands still. 

He made his way to the very center of the crime scene, his eyes frantically searching for a change, any indication that the Golden Demon had returned. Besides for the removal of the single golden scrap, there was nothing of any notice, until-

**_Right. On. Cue!_ **

Yasuo whipped around and found a figure standing on the ledge near the top of the warehouse. He couldn’t make out much of what he saw due to the darkness in the room and the distance the man stood from him, but he was absolutely covered in gold. The edge of the draping cloak he wore was covered in shining, metallic gold, his entire left arm was gold entirely, the boots he wore were also a glittering gold, and from behind his white, twisted mask, he could make out a single, golden eye piercing him like a bullet through the heart. 

_ Oh.  _ Yasuo’s mind said in a small, unhelpful voice.  _ That’s why they call him the Golden Demon.  _

The serial killer leaped down from the ledge, a metallic clink echoing through the room as he landed. “I knew you were clever,” he purred, taking a step towards Yasuo. 

Yasuo drew his katana. “Don’t come any closer,” he warned, trying to keep his voice steady. The man was clearly taller than Yasuo and looked young and agile. There was also a golden gun poised at his side, and he didn’t like his odds. Bullet to blade, if they were on a physically equal level, which Yasuo was making a hopeful assumption for, he would still lose in a toss-up. He had to be clever. 

Yasuo could  _ feel  _ the serial killer’s smirk as he took an overly dramatic step forward. And then, he took another. Then a third. Then a fourth. 

For every step he took forward, Yasuo took one back. He wasn’t sure why a gunman would attempt to get  _ closer  _ to his victim, one with a sword mind you, but Yasuo wasn’t about to have any of it. “I’m warning you, demon. Stay back.” He moved his left foot one step back, ready to get into a defensive stance, when suddenly:

A searing pain exploded from the lower half of his left calf. He looked down, terrified, and saw that he had been walking back right into a trap of some kind. A metallic flower was blooming out, triggered by his weight stepping in the very center. He let out a cry of pain, watching as metal thorns tore into his calf. 

“My dear countryman,” the Golden Demon sighed, “you remind me how little our culture has advanced. I did not even pull the gun out on you, yet you walked into my trap as if you had stage directions.” 

Yasuo let out a cry of pain, dropping to his knees. He tried to pull his calf out of the elegant mechanism, but it was firmly caught. The world started to sway around him. 

“Oh, do not worry,” the serial killer purred, “It is only a minor sedative. You will live.” 

And with that, the Golden Demon’s voice enveloped him like honey, pulling him under and into unconsciousness. 

*****

Yasuo slowly woke to the sound of humming. His head throbbed, and he groaned gently, leaning his head back. Could he go 24 hours without a headache while working on this damned investigation? 

He tried to reach his hands up to his temples, doing what he usually did to soothe his headaches but found his arms bound to a chair behind him. He flinched at this, opening his eyes a crack, and found that his calves had also suffered the same fate. He spotted his weapon, but it was far on the other side of the room. And even worse, the Golden Demon was standing between it and him, something that was never supposed to happen. 

He could feel his emergency phone in the front pocket of his pants, but there was no way he could untie the knot from behind him, especially not fast enough to where the figure before him would miss it. Perhaps if he knocked himself over and was lucky enough to hit it in a certain way…? 

However, his slight movement and his change in breathing had already alerted the Golden Demon. He stopped pacing, and turned to Yasuo, approaching him slowly. He stood intimidatingly over Yasuo. “See, now that was not too disastrous, was it now? You woke up quickly.” He purred, and Yasuo shuddered. 

One of the main things Yasuo had always been attracted to had never been body shape, or hair color, or any of the more popular beauty standards. For him, it had always been voices, and it had never truly bothered him before- although he had gotten into a fair share of questionable situations due to such attraction. However, here and now he permanently decided he hated it. 

The Golden Demon’s voice had knocked it out of the fucking ballpark. It was as smooth as honey, purring and sensual, and mischievous. Every time he spoke, a chill went over Yasuo’s entire body, and he was never fully braced for the next sentence the demon would murmur to him. 

His heart was pounding in his chest already, the deliriousness of the sedative having burnt off under the captivated stare of the Golden Demon’s amber eye.  _ Not the fucking time, place, or person, Yasuo.  _ He thought aggressively to himself, gritting his teeth. 

“ _ Our  _ culture,” Yasuo stuttered out, saying the first thing that came to mind. “You said how far  _ our  _ culture has advanced. A-Are you Ionian?”

“Now, Yasuo,” the demon began, “I do not think you should ask questions we both know you do not want answers to.” 

A visible shiver went over him at the way the Golden Demon had purred his name. Yasuo grit his teeth, trying to distract from the very obvious motion. “Fair point.” 

But, the shiver hadn’t gone unnoticed. “Cold?” He asked, letting out a breathy laugh. 

“Shut up, Demon.” He began, trying to retain some of his dignity in the face of the imposing figure, “Wh-” 

“Oh, enough with all this ‘Golden Demon’ talk. It is far too dramatic, even for my tastes.” He huffed, then he leaned over towards Yasuo a bit. His heart leaped into his throat. “There is much power in a name,  _ Yasuo.”  _ He purred on his name once more. The Golden Demon was annoyingly clever, paired with an artist’s observant eye.

Yasuo cursed mentally as his body betrayed him yet again, giving the artist the exact reaction he had been looking for. He broke eye contact with the man, a flush of light pink spreading over his face.

Unexpectedly, the artist reached out, using his metal arm to gently grab Yasuo by the chin and turn his head back to hold eye contact with him. “My name is Jhin. You  _ will  _ call me by it.” He held him there for a moment, then let go, sliding his metal arm back by his side. 

There was not a single coherent thought in Yasuo’s mind. He was embarrassingly touch starved, he could not think of the last time he had even brushed in contact with another being, and that, paired with his crippling loneliness and everything else he was currently repressing was a  _ dangerous  _ combination. He always knew it would all come back to bite him, but he assumed it would just show in the form of a simple bad decision, not a plunge into hell. 

_ Focus, Yasuo.  _ He cursed at himself mentally, trying to kick himself back into functionality. This was likely the only time he would be able to question the murderer himself, and this exchange here could be what solved the case once and for all. He just didn’t think it would be so difficult. “Why are you doing this?” He finally managed. 

In direct contrast to Yasuo, Jhin didn’t even take a moment to ponder the question. “By ‘this,’ I assume you mean the kills, and not…” Jhin gestured vaguely at Yasuo’s current state of being. 

“Hilarious,” Yasuo said through gritted teeth. If being taunted the entire interrogation was what it took, then it was worth it if it meant saving Jackson’s music career, and K/DA back at the security agency. Wait. Fuck. 

Jhin could probably give out the date, time, and location of his next seven victims and Yasuo wouldn’t hear a word of it due to how disoriented he felt. He wanted to blame the sedative for it, but he knew he would be lying to himself. 

“Something tells me you understand my work better than any other audience I’ve ever had. These are not the murders of a brute, but the artistic vision of a mastermind.” Jhin began, “I see the storm within their hearts, and I calm them. It is through my actions alone that they become memorable, a piece of a larger, more intricate composition.” 

Jhin put a knee on the chair Yasuo was tied back into, drawing them closer together than ever. He grabbed his chin yet again, this time with his human hand. Yasuo shuddered at the proximity, and Jhin’s grasp tightened just a slight amount. They stared at one another face to face, or rather face to mask. 

“I am misunderstood. Beauty cannot be evil: I simply bring art into the world that no poet could match. Yet I am cast out for my tendency to use a more violent medium.” He tilted his head, his amber gaze unwavering. “You are not innocent yourself, Yasuo. You can understand the artistry in death and the intricacies of my work. For that, you have sparked an interest in me. And I, in you.” 

_ Ah, so he’s a psychopath.  _ Yasuo thought bluntly. However, his mind wandered. He reflected back on the body he had investigated at the crime scene. It was elegant, so much thought and painstaking care poured into every inch of the piece. Did others simply see a slaughter when looking upon it? Did they miss so much of its intended purpose? 

Jhin read his expression perfectly, and Yasuo could hear him smirk. “Ah, so you do understand me. I knew you would. Everything about you, from the way you think and act to your Ionian roots, has always struck me as so interesting…”

Yasuo kept silent, trying to clear his expression and keep his breathing steady. 

“Come on, Yasuo,” Jhin purred. “Is it truly so difficult to admit?” 

One thing Yasuo was yet to learn was how short Jhin’s attention span tended to be. He would find a way to entertain himself, one way or another. 

“Regardless, actions speak louder than words. Your heart has not stopped pounding since the moment I stood over you. You can barely contain yourself when I say your name, Yasuo.” 

Yasuo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Yone had always said he needed to work on his self-control. Now, he understood more of the reason why. 

The knee on the chair slid up until it was pressing between Yasuo’s thighs entirely. At that, Yasuo made an unintentional noise, causing another breathy laugh to escape Jhin’s mask. 

“For some reason,” Jhin began, his right arm moving over to Yasuo, “I do not think that it is out of fear. If for whatever reason I may be wrong, you have every opportunity to correct me, Yasuo.” 

Yasuo could listen to Jhin say his name for the rest of his life. Which, given the circumstances, may not be very long due to the intense cardiac workout he was putting his heart through. He pursed his lips, worried if he allowed himself to make one noise to respond to Jhin, he may not be able to reign in this small fraction of control yet again. 

At Yasuo’s silence, Jhin began to slide his human hand up Yasuo’s shirt. Yasuo’s eyes flew open and he fixed them on the artist’s taunting amber stare. Jhin’s hand had found its way to the upper part of Yasuo’s left rib cage, and there it lay, his fingertips absorbing the hammering rate of Yasuo’s heart.

After finding a consistent pattern, Jhin’s fingers began to tap along to it, counting Yasuo’s heart rate in a four count. “ _ One, two, three, four, two, two, three, four.”  _

After a few minutes of this, as Yasuo had begun to get adjusted to it all, Jhin slid his gold arm up his shirt as well. In stark contrast to the other arm, this one was freezing cold, and Yasuo jumped at it, another involuntary sound escaping his lips. 

Jhin seemed fixated by Yasuo’s reactions, trying to earn more of them out of him. He no longer gave Yasuo the mercy of a resting hand but allowed his hands to roam wherever he pleased, over his clenched stomach, pressing on his vulnerable ribs, touching his chest, and running nails down his back. 

Yasuo’s self-control was cracking. He was practically writhing in Jhin’s grip, unable to stay still due to the areas he was teasing or the difference in temperature between the two hands. He was sure his tongue was bleeding due to how hard he was biting down on it, but moans and gasps still escaped his lips regardless. 

“Oh, quit your squirming,” Jhin purred, leaning his weight forwards and pressing his knee harder against him. “It is quite out of character for such a dignified being like yourself,  _ Yasuo.” _

At this, Yasuo moaned, the last fraction of self-control leaving him entirely. He arched his back up towards Jhin, and Jhin sunk his nails into him triumphantly. He leaned down further, murmuring next to his ear. “Now  _ this  _ is exactly what I want to see.” 

Yasuo strained against his bindings, whether to push Jhin away or yank him down further he would not admit. He huffed, his greedy, touch starved body demanding more. “ _ Jhin,”  _ he practically whined. “Stop teasing me.” 

At this, Jhin laughed into his ear. “Teasing you? What, do you want me to pin you down, here and now?” Jhin paused, then slid a hand up over Yasuo’s mouth. “Don’t answer that.” 

Jhin took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He didn’t mean to get as lost in Yasuo as he had. “You would hate me for it anyway. Trust me, Yasuo.” 

Yasuo had a thing or two to say about that, but he wasn’t sure if mouth would allow him to form sentences just yet. In addition, if he even tried he would get a mouthful of metal anyway. 

A possessive glint shown in Jhin’s eyes. “You are the exact audience I needed, Yasuo. You’re mine.” He reached into a back pocket and pulled out a golden, cruel looking knife. Yasuo flinched at this, straining against his bonds once more. “Relax, Yasuo. I’m not going to kill you.” 

Jhin’s hand slid down to Yasuo’s throat, and he twirled the knife in his off hand, considering. He then brought the tip to the middle of Yasuo’s left rib cage, right where his hand had laid just minutes before. 

Yasuo took a deep breath in, holding in high in his chest. As Jhin sunk the tip of the blade into his delicate flesh, Yasuo breathed out slowly. Shamefully, he had done worse in the past. Still, he couldn’t resist a faint squirm as the knife slid over his skin. 

Jhin tightened the hand around his throat. “Still.” He said, focused on his work. 

Yasuo complied, wincing slightly as the blade dragged over his skin. The tip of the knife never plunged deep, and he understood that the purpose of this wasn’t to cause meaningless pain, but he wasn’t quite as sure what he had gotten himself tangled up in. 

A minute later, Jhin stepped back, admiring his work. It wasn’t hard for Yasuo to guess what he had carved into him, and as his mind began to clear, it wasn’t hard to bridge a reasoning either. 

It was clearly a lotus blossom, the flower that had become the Golden Demon’s signature mark. It had been carved into him to mark him not only as his, but as his equal. Yasuo had obviously pleased Jhin through his cleverness, his understanding of his worldview, their recent interaction, and whatever other factors he had missed. So, it made sense that the possessive murderer would try to mark him as his, in every context of the word. 

The lotus blossom was small enough to remain elegant but large enough so it would be impossible to miss if you were looking at him, lest it was covered by clothing or otherwise.  _ I’m starting to think Jhin doesn’t want me sleeping with other people.  _ He smirked to himself. 

“I would lick it clean for you, but I cannot reveal the main act to my audience just yet,” Jhin said smugly, tapping at his mask. He leaned over, buttoning Yasuo’s dark gray shirt back up. “You have inspired me, Yasuo.” He purred at him, sliding his hand up his thigh. Yasuo froze, confused, but Jhin simply reached into his front pocket, pulling out the work phone Yasuo had kept there. 

Yasuo narrowed his eyes at him, and Jhin laughed gently. “I have a mysterious demonic persona to maintain, Yasuo. Where’s the  _ drama  _ in letting you walk home?” 

And with that, he clicked the emergency signal button on the side of Yasuo’s phone, dropping it just out of reach of his foot. He fixed him with a more serious amber stare. “It will not be long until we meet again.” 

He turned on his heel and walked off elegantly. Yasuo listened to him leave the warehouse through the back exit, sighing. He was left bitterly alone in the dim light, craning his ears for the sound of cars rushing the entrance of the warehouse and wondering what he had gotten himself into by establishing himself as worthy of being the Golden Demon’s equal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> congrats yall two, you managed not to fuck in a filthy warehouse! 
> 
> thank you to all my commenters yet again! they were the reasons i was able to pull through and write almost 10k words in one day. i was reading some HILARIOUS comment threads as motivation :) (Zelard, Seungyoon, MapleLokidottir, are just a few examples <3)


	5. Chapter 5

Yasuo had never seen Jackson so panicked. He had been starting to doze off, although whether from exhaustion, blood loss, or as a general symptom of the sedative, he wasn’t so sure. However, Jackson’s distinctive shouts, telling his security agents to comb the area and the warehouse itself was enough to jolt him awake. 

When the team had finally stumbled upon Yasuo in the second room of the warehouse, visual panic spreading through the security guards like an electric current. They had rushed over to him, and when he had responded to their shouts, Jackson breathed an audible sigh of relief. 

“Holy fuck, Yasuo,” Jackson said, a rare curse coming from him. “I thought you were dead- you’re soaked in blood.” He turned rapidly over his shoulder, “I need a medical team! Now!” 

“No, I’m good,” Yasuo groaned. “Could you untie me please?” 

The type of knot Jhin had tied was unsurprisingly overkill for the situation, so much so that the guards had to bring out wire cutters to get through the thick rope, as the knot was far too complex to untie by hand. 

As they tended to the ones near his feet, Yasuo leaned forwards, rubbing his wrists. They were insanely sore, and he had been losing circulation to them the entire time. He cringed, his fingers tingling as feeling flowed back into them. 

The medical team had arrived, and they rushed towards him, expecting the worst. The chief examiner noticed the blood soaking through his shirt first, and reached for him. 

“No!” Yasuo yelped defensively, then righted himself. “No, uh, just the one on my calf, please. It’s a pretty deep gash, and it had some type of sedative on it.” 

The medical examiner fixed him with a puzzled look but complied without saying anything. He was thankful for this, as he didn’t even know why it had been so instinctual to refuse care for his bleeding chest. The lotus blossom simply felt private, a connection that only he and Jhin knew about. In addition, he would have an awful lot of explaining to do when there was a marking so distinctive of the Golden Demon’s work right on his chest. 

Although, thinking about the lotus blossom as a connection between him and Jhin that only they could share was likely exactly what the artist wanted when he carved it. He was playing right into his hands yet again, and he tried not to think too rationally about it. He didn’t feel like taking a deep look at his questionable morality at the current moment. 

As Jackson waited for the medical team to finish their work, he fixed the emergency signal emanating from his work phone. There was no reason to keep it triggered if the call had been responded to, although too late in Jackson’s eyes. “You and I have some talking to do.” He said, pointing to Yasuo with an end of the phone. 

Yasuo nodded silently, focusing more on the feeling of blood flowing back into his hands and feet and trying his best to keep his mind off of what he had just experienced. 

The medical examiner straightened. “Anything else?” 

Yasuo shook his head a little too quickly. “No, that’s the main injury. Everything else is just scrapes and bruises.” 

“You’re quite lucky to get out of a situation like this so unharmed, then.” The medical examiner peered at him with quite a suspicious stare. 

Yasuo fixed his eyes on him, holding a challenging stare with the medical examiner until he dropped the issue. 

Yasuo stood up slowly. It was hard enough trying to balance on the limbs that had been asleep for so long, but that paired with searing pain from the injured calf made him want to sit right back down. He groaned inwardly. He would be walking with a fucking  _ limp  _ the next few days, and not for the reason he wanted to. He was really getting old now: soon he’d be complaining his bones hurt from the winter chill. 

“Careful,” Jackson warned, eyeing him warily. 

“I got it. I don’t need a damn stretcher.” 

Jackson sighed. “Let’s walk this way.” He took a few paces forward, and then while he was waiting for Yasuo, spoke into a wireless earpiece. “Did you guys find anything in the area?” 

Yasuo held his breath slightly, trying to listen in. Had Jhin miraculously gotten away again, or did he make a fatal slip with his dramatic tendencies?

“No, nothing. Area is completely combed and secure.” 

Jackson sighed. “10-4.” 

Yasuo didn’t understand why his heart skipped a beat at that. He should be hoping that the Golden Demon, the one putting so many lives and careers at risk, should be caught, especially with time to spare before Worlds. So why did he feel such relief at the fact that Jhin had gotten away? Forget talking with Jackson, he needed to have a conversation with himself before the day was over. 

Eventually, he managed to limp his way over to Jackson’s car and got in. He watched as some of the other investigator’s cars pulled off before them, but he also noted that nearly all of the forensic scientists were staying behind, trying to scrape up DNA evidence from the scene. 

Jackson had stayed behind for a moment longer, giving some orders to the other security agents, but he walked over to his car, sliding into the driver’s seat. “I’m going to give you the scenic route to the hotel. Tell me everything you learned- no one can hear what you say inside this car, it’s just me.” 

Yasuo was certainly not going to tell him everything he learned. However, he needed to tell him something, and maybe even something that would make a difference within the investigation. 

As the car growled into action, Jackson gave him one last look out of the corner of his eye, and then pulled off into the road. He was an extremely careful, or should he say, secure driver. He kept his eyes trained on the road, both hands on the wheel, and a watchful eye out for any potential dangers. Yasuo was glad Jackson had never seen him drive- he would probably have a heart attack. 

He took one deep breath in, collecting his thoughts. He needed to play his cards properly. “The Golden Demon is definitely human. He dresses very extravagantly, he has gold everywhere. I also observed that he has a gold metal arm- the left, I believe. He also wears a white mask. If the Golden Demon is ever around, you can definitely tell.” 

Jackson nodded intently, noting the physical characteristics he had explained but keeping his eyes on the road. “Alright, so he isn’t hard to miss. Glad we’re not dealing with an actual demon then.” A spark of humor flickered into his voice but died as soon as it had come. 

“As for weapons, I think he uses a gun to strike down his targets and a knife to.. finish the job. He didn’t use the gun on me, but it was definitely there with him and I smelled gunpowder on Jiang’s body.” Yasuo glanced down at his calf, wincing at the dull throb of pain that had started to emanate from the gashes. “He also had some type of metal trap, like a bear trap but.. fancier. I think the purpose of it is to inject something, in my own case a sedative.” 

“So he either drugs them up or shoots them down, then carves them up like a butcher. Sounds like the sadist we’re looking for.” 

Yasuo nodded. He was starting to get to the gray area of things that would genuinely help the investigation but back Jhin into a tight corner. “He didn’t let me know of any dates where he planned to kill again or reasons for murder in the first place. His motivations remain unclear to me, but after meeting him I’d guess they were rooted in sadism.” Yasuo bit the inside of his cheek. He hated lying, especially to people like Jackson who trusted him entirely. However, he wasn’t ready to give Jhin up just yet. 

Jackson nodded once more, putting hand over hand as he turned the wheel onto a new street. He kept his eye on the rearview mirrors from time to time. “What exactly DID he do to you while you were there? Knowing so would probably give a lot of insight as to what some of the more unlucky victims have to go through, or at least where his mind tends to stray towards.” 

_ Well Jackson, after lecturing me about his motivations and after my dumbass walked into a trap, he marked me as his equal and we nearly had sex, if not for his own self-control.  _ Hm. For some reason, Yasuo didn’t think that would go over too well. So instead, he opted for a half-truth. “I think that the warehouse may have been one of his main hideouts. I wanted to sweep over the scene of one of the previous murders and the place I had visited with Jiang, so I went back and I may have caught him by surprise. He was defensive and not very talkative.” Yasuo inwardly cringed. “Defensive” and “not very talkative” were about as far from the truth as one could get. “He managed to back me into a trap. I woke up strapped to the chair, I’m not sure how many hours later, with the work phone going off. I’m not sure why he didn’t kill me- I may not match his ideal victim profile, although I don’t know what that may be.” 

Jackson was silent for a good while, processing what he had been told. After a while, and after a few more turns, he said “I appreciate the danger you put yourself through for us all, Yasuo. Not just anyone could do that, and the information you have discovered thus far will save lives. I always knew I was making the right choice by accepting you.” 

Yasuo felt a stab of guilt. Jackson trusted him so completely, yet most of what he had said was a half-truth at best. He nodded simply, staring ahead at the road. 

“We’re a few minutes out. Anything else you want to tell me, even if it’s just speculation in your mind?” 

Yasuo sighed, pulling at the edge of his button-up shirt. “Maybe the next move should be analyzing an ideal victim profile to see who's at risk and if any of the K/DA girls are one of those people. You should have a stronger profile now that you have someone to use as a nonideal victim reference.” 

Jackson was silent as he maneuvered the car out in front of Yasuo’s hotel. “I’ll pass that onto the investigation team. Thank you for your help, I don’t think there is anyone better for this, although I deeply despise having to put anyone through this at all.” 

“One last thing,” Yasuo said as he turned to look at Jackson directly. “What happens if one of the K/DA girls IS an ideal victim?” 

Jackson shifted the car into park, and then slowly looked over at Yasuo. “Then… We move the girls to a secure location, perhaps a continent away, and cancel Worlds. We lose our careers and the agency falls apart.” Jackson sighs. “Nothing is worth the price of more lives, however.” 

And on that unhappy note, the conversation ended. Yasuo shifted awkwardly in his seat. “I have a feeling we will see each other very soon.” 

Jackson nodded solemnly. “You know how to reach me if you ever need me. I’ll pass on what you said to the other investigators.” 

Yasuo got out of the car and limped his way over to the trunk, where they had placed his katana. He recovered his faithful weapon and nodded one last time to Jack, gritting his teeth as he walked up the stairs that lead to the entrance of the hotel. Jackson only set the car in motion once he was sure that Yasuo had safely made his way inside, a different touch compared to the other two drivers he had recently had. 

He nodded politely to the secretary, trying to walk as normally as possible despite the pain. He opted for the elevator, as walking up a few flights of stairs would not end well, despite how claustrophobic the metal box was. 

Thankfully, it carried him up to his floor safely, although Yasuo’s irrational fear screamed otherwise. He walked to his room, sliding the keycard through and unlocking the door. He stepped into the room very quietly, drawing his katana. He still instinctively needed to check every nook and cranny of the room for the one Ionian assassin who may catch him off guard, although even if he found them in their hiding place he would still likely die- an injured swordsman against a bitter, motivated top-of-the-class Ionian assassin. Not a chance in this state. 

However, after thoroughly checking the room, Ionia had decided today would not be the day Yasuo died. He laid his katana down on the table the hotel had provided, and he untied the rope that attached the  _ saya  _ to his waist. He then peeled off the rest of what he was wearing, discarding the bloodied clothing off to the side. He needed a shower and some sleep more than anything. 

The warm water washed away the blood still sticking to his flesh, although it left behind a stinging feeling on his left ribs and his calf. It soothed the ache his muscles held from being tied to a chair for so long, and the stress of the day itself. He took down his hair, washing the dust and everything else that had stuck on him from the warehouse and sighed, thinking over the day’s events in his mind. 

After a while, he turned off the hot water and left the shower. He dried himself off, and then after a moment of consideration, he wiped the stream from the mirror off with a towel so that he could examine the blossom Jhin had carved into him. 

Yasuo sucked in a breath as he observed the design. It was elegantly done, lines clear and precise even despite the canvas’ flaws. It was a gorgeous, yet simple lotus blossom, one that symbolized so much in his home culture. It was a symbol of enlightenment, of the ability to rise from the filth and muck and produce something beautiful. It was also the symbol of the Golden Demon, and the one he marked as his equal. 

He ran his hand over the design. It tingled at his touch, reminiscent of both Jhin’s hand lying there and how he had so meticulously carved it just hours beforehand. Although he didn’t realize it before, it struck him that Jhin had chosen a location with such thin skin. It would be most likely to scar here, even despite how shallow the cut truly was. At this, he felt a flash of something, although shamefully the emotion he felt towards the potential scarring wasn’t entirely disgust. A gorgeously done mark, one that permanently showed the connection that the two equals had to one another- Hm. He had much to think about. 

He gave a few minutes to dry off further, getting ready for bed. It was earlier than he usually slept, if at all, but the day’s events had exhausted him and chances were he was going to get a call that woke him during the night. He just hoped he wouldn’t be subject to yet another nightmare. 

He lay in the bed, staring out into the darkness as his mind began to wander. He finally had the chance to reflect and relax, and the first place his mind went to was to Jhin. Jhin, the Golden Demon who was so heavily wanted by the hands of the law. Jhin, the one who had outsmarted him countless times, wrapped him in layers of mind games yet still branded him as his equal. Jhin, the one who had purred his name into his ears and gave him what he had so desperately craved for so long. 

Yasuo turned onto his side, wrapping his arms around the covers next to him. He felt like a teenager again, he knew how awful a choice letting the idea even fester within his mind was but the driving force overpowered him every time he tried to squash it back down. He wanted Jhin badly- no one else had ever been able to match him punch for punch in mental combat the way Jhin did. He wasn’t just another annoying “clever” person, he was poetic with it all, and they understood each other far too well. They may not agree, or have the same motivations, but it seemed as if their mind were on the same plane together, separate from the rest. 

Jhin’s voice made him crave his touch. He would never get desensitized to the purring nature of it, how it drew him in and held him there as if it were a hypnotizing trap cast by a hunter upon its unsuspecting prey. But Jhin’s hands weren’t enough- he wanted more, he wanted to feel his weight press down on top of him, he wanted to dish back the same teasing pleasure Jhin had given to him, to see him squirm for a change. He didn’t care how he got it, he just wanted- no,  _ needed  _ more of Jhin. He needed his touch, his voice, the taunts he would throw at him and the mental obstacles he would overcome. 

Fantasizing about Jhin had caused arousal to start burning just underneath his skin. He felt half tempted to go to a bar and let himself get drawn into a drunken bad decision, but anyone he found would have questions about the marking beneath his shirt that even he didn’t have answers to. And after experiencing that perfection, nothing else would come close to satisfying what he needed. 

He sighed, feeling the sexual frustration build up within him. He was too tired to give himself what he wanted and no one, save for Jhin, could give it to him. The best he could do would be to fall asleep and hope that he would think clearer in the morning. 

*****

To his surprise, he woke up naturally. No emergency calls about a new victim, no calls from the hotel, no calls from Jackson. He woke up the next morning when his body decided to, although whether or not he felt rested was to be determined. 

Unfortunately, his hopeful theory that the desire would have left by morning was unsurprisingly false. It still burned underneath his skin, but it was tolerable enough to make use of the day. He knew that if he fell in too deep thinking about Jhin, he wouldn’t leave the bed-or the darkest corners of his mind, for the entire day. So, rather than letting himself fall victim to it, he forced himself out of a bed. 

He came down a little too hard on his injured leg and winced. He had forgotten about it, but it was adamant about reminding him of the pain he had endured yesterday. He sighed, limping over to his duffle bag so that he could pick out clothes for the day. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do. There were no new occurrences there to drag him out of the hotel as soon as he woke up, and he most likely wouldn’t make any new progress with the case. He was starting to think his best bet was to convince Jhin to tone down the killing, or to find out what his plan was for Worlds. Sure, he could hunt down the Golden Demon’s new hideout, but he doubted he’d make much progress without any clues. 

He sighed, thinking back to his musical set up at the studio where the members of K/DA still were. On days like these, he would find himself there, practicing old songs and thinking of new ones. He could easily spend hours going through this same cycle, and he likely needed to: getting out of practice before Worlds was an extremely bad idea. However, he had packed light, and bringing an instrument was not one of the priorities when hunting down a bloodthirsty serial killer. 

He glanced at the time. It was almost noon, and one of the things he had neglected over the past few days was his physical health. He could go out and get lunch, then debate over what the next step of his investigation would be. It was something to do, and it was mildly productive relative to the case. The thought of spending the whole day within the hotel room made his skin crawl. 

He decided he would eat from one of the cafes not too far from the hotel. As much as he could use a walk, his calf vehemently disagreed. He put on some simple black jeans, a white t-shirt, and then his black bomber with a dragon twisting across the back of it. It was fairly windy, judging by the noise outside of his window, so it would keep some of the bitterness of the upcoming winter away. 

After running a comb through his hair and tying it up, he glanced over at his katana. He despised being away from it, but most public locations would throw him out if he brought such a weapon within their doors. Therefore, he opted for a small sheathed knife and slipped it in the side of his boot. It wasn’t much, but it could be the difference between life and death in a dire situation. 

Yasuo wanted to tell himself that his calf was already getting better, but he wasn’t entirely sure of that, which is why he opted to take the claustrophobic death box yet again, rather than the open stairs. He held his breath the entire time, and when the doors finally opened, he could breathe again. He walked out of the elevator quickly, trying not to limp in front of the secretary. 

He walked outside the hotel, scanning over the different shops and restaurants all open to serve customers. He felt a strange pang of guilt and bittersweet- the last time he had gone on a walk was with Jiang, and he missed talking to the anxious yet undeniably brave man. He hadn’t deserved the fate he received just for being around Yasuo. 

He turned, deciding to opt for walking down the sidewalk on the right. He put his hands in his pockets, trying to prevent his fingers from going cold and stiff. He was trying not to limp, but the wind felt like icy teeth biting into the gashes on his calf. Eventually, he found a location that served some type of light rice dish, and he opted to go in, welcoming the warmth that flooded over him. 

The server at the front desk called out a greeting as he walked in. It seemed to be a fairly quiet shop, with only a few people lingering at tables. He walked up to her and placed an order for a small portion, and she nodded politely. She gestured to any of the open tables and promised him that she would bring it out to him as soon as it was ready. 

As he made his way over to a table in the back, he noticed that a short girl with a bright sparkle in her eye was trailing him. He paused, looking over at her, and she took this as an invitation to come right up to him. “You’re Yasuo, right? From True Damage?” 

_ Oh boy. Here we go.  _ Yasuo thought to himself. He didn’t particularly mind getting noticed by a fan out in public, but he was never sure how to react to them. Usually, when people noticed him from a distance, it was because they were trying to assassinate him rather than tell him that they were inspired by him. “Yes, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you.” 

The girl was practically bouncing with excitement. “Oh! I love your work so much! It’s even inspired me to start making my own, although I’m not very good at it. I love True Damage so much and I can’t wait for your collab with K/DA. The whole world is buzzing about it!” 

Yasuo laughed softly. “Such high praise, although I don’t know how deserved it is. I’m sure you make wonderful work, and I think you should keep at it. The world needs more music.” 

Her eyes glowed at that. “I definitely will!” She reached up to the headphones that were resting on her shoulders. “I-If it’s not too much trouble, uh, I know it’s an odd request, but uh… Could you.. Maybe sign these for me?” 

“No, it’s no problem at all.” Yasuo hesitated. “Although, I don’t have anything to write with on me…”

“I have a Sharpie in my bag,” she said, holding out the object in question. 

He took it awkwardly, writing his name and “TRUE DAMAGE” underneath it in his slightly jagged handwriting. He gave it a moment to dry, and then handed it back to her, feeling awkward as ever. 

“Thank you so much!” She chirped, turning to go back to where her friend was waiting. She practically vibrated as she walked back to them, the two girls breaking out in excited giggles. 

The girl was nice, but public recognitions like that always made him cringe. He never knew what to say, or how to respond. He took a seat at the table, looking straight ahead as his mind began to drift. Would this girl still be as big of a fan as she was if she knew what he had done? What he was currently doing by not immediately turning the Golden Demon in? Was he putting her at risk? 

Yasuo sighed, continuing to debate it over and over within his mind, only pausing to politely thank the server as she brought his food out to him. He took a sip of the complimentary tea that was brought out with the meal and found it to be much,  _ much  _ better than the one served at the hotel- for good reason, of course. 

As he ate, he debated Jhin over in his mind. Yasuo had never met someone who had so quickly matched him so well. They seemed to understand each other, to visualize each other’s worlds on a plane that no one else truly saw. If Jhin was Ionian, as Yasuo suspected, it would only add to this effect. They complimented each other mentally, and he had never met anyone whose voice alone gave him such a rush of endorphins. If Yasuo turned Jhin in now, he would be sending another person he cared about to either their execution or to an indefinite sentence. He would never meet anyone like him for the rest of his days. 

On the other hand, Jhin could easily be playing him. He could be experiencing the same treatment every other victim had received, and it was only a matter of time before Yasuo would find himself as part of a gorey canvas. Or, even if he wasn’t fated to die, who else was? An innocent fan like the girl he had just met, if not herself? A member of K/DA? Every second he wasted by not coming clean to Jackson was another second someone was in danger. It wasn’t in a person like Jhin’s nature to simply stop. 

So was this what Yasuo was stuck with? Send a potential lover to their death, either literally or metaphorically, or play a hand in the death of the innocent, and the death of those close to him, alongside his very own career, all for his selfish affections? Was there no third option here? What was he supposed to do? 

He debated the topic the entire time he had his meal. It wasn’t like he could tell a man as addicted to murder as Jhin to simply stop killing, and bargaining with him to stop killing in time for Worlds was shallow and solved nothing. 

He finished off the rest of his tea and sighed, wanting to place his head in his hands. However, he wasn’t given time to brood over the topic any further when the ring of his work phone sounded. He picked it up immediately, trying to keep his voice down in the corner of the restaurant. 

Jack was on the other end, and he didn’t even give him a moment to ask what was going on before saying “We need you to get you out of that hotel. Now.” 

“I understand. I am not in the hotel at the moment, so give me a second to get to a place I can talk.” He cleaned up the table he was sitting at and then walked out the door briskly, giving another polite nod to the server. As soon as he stood outside of the restaurant, he brought the phone back up to his ear. “What’s going on?”

“We just found another victim. It is clear that the Golden Demon intends on killing you next. We are going to move you out of Shanghai.” 

“What!? You can’t take me out so late into the investigation. How did you even come to this conclusion?” 

“Yasuo, it’s for your own safety. I can’t watch you die here. This victim is a clear taunt at you, and I am positive you will be next. Every second you spend here, your life is in danger. I am sending someone to the hotel now.” 

“Yes, and he will take me to the crime scene,” Yasuo said bluntly,  _ daring  _ Jackson to question him. 

“There is no way I am letting you do that. You need to get out of here.” 

“You’re not going to let me see the murder that was done in my name, or so you say? You may be missing very critical data by not having me look at it. It may be another communication from him.” 

“Your  _ life  _ is in danger staying here!” 

“And it has been many times before! You WILL take me to the crime scene.” 

Yasuo could feel Jackson’s tension brewing on the other end of the line. After a strong minute, he relented, but on one condition. “We will drive you here. You will stay no longer than 30 minutes. Immediately after, we are bringing you back to where K/DA is currently staying, at least until we know the situation is safe enough for you to come back down. No compromises.” 

“I can live with that. See you in a few.” And with that, he clicked his phone shut, sliding it into his pocket. He half jogged, half limped back to the hotel, gathering his belongings and most importantly, his katana. He clearly wouldn’t be returning to the room again either. 

The second Yasuo made it back outside of the hotel front, the distinctive black car of the security agency pulled up. He slid into the back seat, giving a nod at the driver and making sure his katana was secure. 

They sped off, and before long, he found himself outside the front of a theatre. Not a modern one for showing movies, but one that kept the eternal tradition of acting alive. He looked at the driver through the rearview mirror, and he nodded at him, signaling this was the place the murder had occurred. 

He got out of the vehicle, slightly confused until he saw a member of the security agency walk briskly towards him. “This way.” 

There was always a sense of awe that came with walking into an old theatre. It was massive and had an intimidating aura that thousands of performers had seen for the centuries the building had stood. It told him that it had been there long before Yasuo was ever born, and would be there long after. It was an old beast, one that he had a lot of respect for. 

He was quickly ushered along, unable to revel in the atmosphere the theatre provided for as long as he liked. He was guided towards the hall for seating of the main theatre and started to hear the low, tense buzz he began to associate with the Golden Demon’s crime scenes. 

A theatre is designed so that no matter where an audience member sat, their focus would be entirely trained on the performers on the stage. Close or far, you felt an almost personal experience with the actors that were pouring their hearts out onto stage right before you. That, paired with the ancient, loved walls of the theatre, is why a modern movie would never match the drama or the elegance of an old, traditional play. Apparently, Jhin agreed with this statement. 

Yasuo stood at the very top of the theatre, right where the entrance to the seating was. At the very center of the stage, a woman lay elegantly draped over a chair, every spotlight the theatre had trained directly on her and her alone. 

The Golden Demon’s murders had always been captivating. From a picture or from real life, Yasuo had always noted the small intricacies that made every piece “beautiful,” at least in Jhin’s eyes. But Jhin’s work, combined with the natural flow of the massive theatre, created a different effect entirely. 

Yasuo walked down to the stage quickly, passing by Jackson and the forensic scientists wordlessly. His eyes were too trained on the masterpiece the artist had created. 

The woman was clearly meant to resemble Yasuo. She had very long brown hair, which was swept into a ponytail. She was elegantly laid back over the chair, her legs carelessly stretched out, her neck tossed back, and her arms in a comfortable sweep behind her head, almost as if it were a picture of a swimmer doing a backstroke in midair. 

At her left calf, there were gashes nearly identical to Yasuo’s. However, after getting a closer look, he could tell that they were likely stabs from a knife rather than the trap he had backed into during his first meeting with Jhin. This was merely part of the piece he painted rather than what he used to strike her down. 

He checked her hands for anything she was holding but found no scraps of metal- the only thing adorning her was a single, glimmering diamond ring. “So she had a family.” Yasuo sighed, mostly to himself. 

However, one of the investigators heard what he had said and countered him. “Actually, we were able to identify who she was very quickly, due to the fact that she works here and closed last night. She’s entirely single and has been for years. Perhaps she wore it as a stylistic choice?” He suggested. 

“Yeah, that’s it,” Yasuo mumbled, groaning inwardly. Jhin was being cocky, sliding a wedding ring onto a victim meant to resemble Yasuo. A flirtatious gesture that only he could understand, how characteristic of him. 

Yasuo moved on to the rest of the corpse, sucking in a breath. There was a lotus blossom speared through her left rib cage. He seemed to have attached it to a knife and jabbed it all the way through so that the location could elegantly display the gorgeous flower. An overzealous gesture for most, but one that would hold high symbolism to Yasuo alone. 

As he continued to look over the body, he caught sight of a small tattoo on her neck. It was old and starting to fade, but still easy to read. It said “INSPIRE” in a bold font, a detail missed by most but likely icing on the cake for Jhin.  _ Do I “inspire” you, Jhin? Is that why you did this? _

Yasuo looked over at the control box of the theatre, where the Golden Demon had trained each of the spotlights directly on her. He was blinded for a moment but considered. He WAS indeed in the spotlight, just like this girl was. What he did now, both Jhin and the world would be watching, and not in terms of a musical performance. His response to the Golden Demon as the finale drew near would be one of the most critical decisions he’d ever make, and he could be sure all eyes would be on him. 

After looking at the body, Yasuo didn’t consider it a threat. This was a gesture of something else- another collection of messages to Yasuo, and a depiction of the inspiration he gave him at most. Although, there was no way he could explain the intricacies of it to Jackson- he would simply have to lie low back at the outer city for a day or two as the situation de-escalated. 

He stood up, making another pass around the body to make sure he didn’t miss anything. After inspecting the back of her, he realized the chair was covering up the fatal wound to the back of the chest. It was a quick kill, more likely than not she had never even seen Jhin as he took her life. In addition, it made sure that the front canvas wasn’t disturbed so that he could drape the body as he saw fit, and add the details such as the blossom and the gashes on the calves later. 

A shudder went down his spine. He wasn’t in danger, but who was? Yasuo couldn’t help but feel at least partially responsible for this murder- if Jhin hadn’t have gotten “inspired” by him, would she still be walking the earth, tending to the theatre she loved? Another wave of disgust washed over him, akin to the one he felt with Jiang. It was an extravagant gesture, but not worth the heavy, irreplaceable price. 

Yasuo knew he was running low on time, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was missing something. Jhin was so meticulously detailed and ornate, he was positive he was still missing things off of both her and Jiang’s body. He stretched his mind, trying to think of anything else Jhin could have done. 

Yasuo didn’t have much evidence to support it, but he had a feeling Jhin had a strange fixation with the number four. He remembered how he had tapped his heartbeat out to him in an odd four count, and how many other things were carefully divided into fours. It was a long shot, but Yasuo backed away from the body, scanning the audience. 

He quickly found row four, and then counted until he reached seat four. He peered at it apprehensively, but sure enough, a scrap of gold metal sat delicately placed on the seat. It was just like the scrap of gold metal he had once carved the letter “Y” into, but this time it was an immaculate “J.” He observed it, and it’s elegant, flowing carving, before pocketing it, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one had seen. 

_ J for Jhin, is it now?  _ He thought to himself, peering at the body from this angle.  _ Are you merely spectating me while I stand in the spotlight? _

He chuckled bitterly to himself, sighing. Jackson was starting to look antsy, checking his watch compulsively. There were so many minute details Yasuo knew he was turning his back on, but he wasn’t sure he would pick up on all of them even if he had infinite time here. He made his way over to Jackson, who nearly jumped when he saw him. 

“Now do you see why I wanted to evacuate you out of here as soon as possible? Let’s get out of here, talk in the car.” Jackson said, already beginning to usher him out of the theatre. 

Yasuo followed him out silently, his focus entirely internal. How could he phrase his observations about the murder without exposing his interesting relationship with the Golden Demon, but diffuse the situation enough that Jackson would let him back on the scene of the investigation within enough time to make a difference? The next hour wouldn’t be very easy. 

Jackson practically leaped into the driver's seat, unlocking the door for him. Yasuo put his belongings in the backseat and then slid into the passenger’s seat, mentally bracing himself. 

Jackson in his ever-secure style of driving kept his eyes fixed on the road as he slowly pulled out into the deserted street. He kept his eyes on the road as they began to pick up speed, and then broke the silence with his first question.

“So, what do you think of it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost fused this chapter with the next one, but I didn't want you guys to wait for too long! Some very interesting events are about to take place ;)   
> 
> 
> Thank you so much to my lovely commenters! You underestimate how much I reread your comments to keep me going, whether it's simply for writing motivation or to turn my bad day around :)


	6. Chapter 6

Yasuo was afraid that after this investigation was over, he may start suffering from chronic headaches. The hour-long drive was a mental workout, almost on par with dealing with Jhin. He had to report his observations, make connections and theories with Jackson all while trying to hide his..affiliation.. with the Golden Demon alongside preventing him from freaking out and keeping Yasuo away from the investigation permanently. 

Yasuo had never been so glad to see the small city where the members of K/DA and the rest of the team was currently staying. He didn’t mind talking to Jackson on a regular basis, but when it was so complex a topic, one that he had to lie about, it eroded his sanity quickly. 

As they pulled towards the hotel Yasuo had stayed at just a few days prior, Jackson sighed. “Thanks for the discussion. I feel a little bit better about all this, and I can’t deny that you’re a critical member of the investigation. But please listen to my request of staying up here a few days just in case- we don’t want to risk you, and you likely need the time to destress and practice.” 

That was true- staying here would give him access to the studio, and he would be able to attend practices and spend a few hours there. His hands tingled at the thought, a musician should never be away from his craft for very long. Plus, he would appreciate not being woken up as he slept for maybe a night or two… “I can respect that, and I appreciate the time to practice. However,” Yasuo glanced over at Jackson seriously, “if anything major happens, call me.” 

“I will, I will.” He promised. “I need to get back to the forensic scientists- maybe we’ll get lucky this time.”

Yasuo got out of the car, grabbing his belongings from the back. “Maybe,” he said with little confidence in his voice. 

And with that, Jackson gave him a polite nod, shifting the gear back into drive. Yasuo turned, walking to the familiar hotel. This one was far fancier and far more pricey than the ones he had stayed at in the Shanghai district, but due to the chic nature of it, he was far more likely to get recognized. 

He walked into the lobby, and the secretary waved to him. “Glad to see you back so soon, your room reservation is just as your agency left it,” she said, handing him a keycard as he walked to the front desk. “If you need anything, just let us know.”

“I will, thank you.” He accepted the keycard, nodding to a few of the whispering people at the lobby as they stared him down. Perhaps word had gotten out that a few members of K/DA or other popular artists such as him and Seraphine were there. 

He started towards the stairs, but the bitter reminder of his leg injury told him otherwise. He had almost forgotten about it after sitting in a car for so long, but it would not accept letting him walk up the stairs, especially when his room was so high up in the hotel. He gave a sigh of defeat and walked as plainly as he could to the elevator.

He pushed the button for his floor, which happened to be one of the highest the hotel had to offer. He took a step back, observing his surroundings. The elevator was too gaudy for his tastes, too overly modern and it featured a massive mirror down the center of it. Were people really double checking their looks wherever they went, including deathboxes of transportation? 

The elevator dinged musically, and the doors slid open far too slowly. He half jumped out of the metal trap, and only let out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding when the doors clicked shut behind him. 

He made his way over to his familiar room, which happened to be one of the few on the entire level. A room was a bit of an understatement, a suite better described it. The hotel had been built for extravagance, hoping to host traveling celebrities or other figures that would draw relevance to his name. It was the most expensive one the travel agency could find in the area, although he had no doubt that the K/DA girls had stayed in far pricier. Yasuo, on the other hand, had never seen anything so overly luxurious, and oftentimes felt overwhelmed by it all. 

Before opening the door to his suite, he drew his katana. He pushed the door open quietly, ears perked for any sound of noise. He had a lot more area to secure, but he inspected the multiple rooms meticulously. As usual, he found nothing- no traps, no Ionian invaders, no questionably attractive serial killers- but one scrape with death years ago had forever ensured he would leave no stone unturned when it came to unfamiliar locations, especially ones where he’d be particularly vulnerable. 

He placed his duffle bag next to the dresser that held the rest of his clothing from back before he took part in the investigation. His eyes swept the room once more, and they landed on the bedside clock provided to him. It was only around six at night, and his hands itched to practice playing again, especially now that he was aware of the opportunity. 

He decided to change clothes and brush his hair once more just to freshen up. He put on a light jacket and a simple dark colored outfit, then secured his katana at his side. No one would dare question him about it here, and it was a relief to him. Even if he prayed he’d never need it, the presence was almost.. comforting, as if it were a companion that would never leave his side. 

He opted to put on some more comfortable shoes- the boots he wore currently pressed against his injured calf, and it nearly drew him insane. Any type of relief from the pain would be welcome, although he decided against taking pain medication for now- he may want a sip or two of sake later. 

Making sure his keycard, his work phone, and his normal phone was with him, he left the room once more. It was definitely easier to walk without the boots, but he still opted for the elevator. He hated going down in elevators even more than he loathed going up. In addition to the crippling claustrophobia, the pit that formed in his stomach as he felt himself dropping, especially with the knowledge that a single snap of wire could send him hurtling irreversibly to his doom made him nauseous. 

Luckily, fate smiled on him- today was not the day he would fall to his doom in a crushing box. He left the elevator, nodding at the secretary, and left the hotel. He knew the route to the studio by heart after traveling it so many times. He wasn’t sure if K/DA was having practice today- hell, he wasn’t even sure of what day it was. He wouldn’t mind practicing some music alone, regardless. 

He pushed the door to the studio open tentatively. The bored looking attendant brightened immediately when he saw him. “Hello, Yasuo! So good to see you-back already?” 

“Good to see you as well, Dylan,” he said, greeting him by name. “Are they practicing today?” 

“They did, but they had an earlier practice. You’ll get the studio all to yourself if that’s what you’re looking for.” 

Yasuo nodded.

“Here ya go!” Dylan handed him the key to the room they usually practiced in. “All yours. Take as long as you need.” 

“Thank you.” He headed over to the room, unlocking the heavy soundproof door with the key. The lights flickered on as he walked in, the familiar buzz of electrical energy surging through some of the musical equipment. 

The area was mostly straightened, although it was obvious that the K/DA members had been there earlier. What looked like Akali’s song idea notebook lay open on one of the chairs, and a tube of lip gloss was lying peacefully on the ground. Other than that, everything was entirely undisturbed. 

The good thing about electronic musical instruments like soundboards is that they never lost tune. So, when Yasuo played a note, it generated the sweet, electric sound he wanted. He smiled, perhaps for the first time in days, and felt rare inspiration surge through his body. 

He leaned over, grabbing the notebook Akali had left behind. She left it out, so therefore it was fair game in his eyes. Most of the paper he flipped through contained potential rap lyrics, scrapped ideas, preliminary stages of MORE and THE BADDEST, but from time to time, a small collection of musical notes was doodled within the margin, charting out a few potential chords or a simple beat for a future song.

He found one he’d never seen before and visualized what it would sound like. It was fairly simple, so he wondered if he could put his own twist on it: many of the sounds in their new album had come from scrapped, simple ideas that Yasuo had picked up and made his own, then the girls added song lyrics over it, then wrapped it up with Kai’sa's stunning choreography. 

He tried the notes out in a few different styles- different ranges of pitch, in a minor key, and anything else he could think of. With his other hand, he began to tap a few different buttons on the soundboard, adding in other more subtle notes as he saw fit. He wasn’t making anything formal, just seeing where the flow of the song took him and made changes as he saw fit. 

However, one earlier part of the song he was starting to piece together bothered him- there was something just slightly  _ off  _ about it, and he didn’t really understand what it was. He tried playing it in different keys, adding and taking away notes, but remained unsuccessful. He frowned, stuck. 

“It’s too slow. Put it in 4/4 count.” 

Yasuo nearly jumped out of his chair. He was so focused on his music that he hadn’t heard the visitor walk in. He turned, looking out of his peripheral vision, and spotted the assistant with the amber eyes. 

_ What’s he doing here?  _ Yasuo wondered, but he turned back to the soundbar. He took the stagehand’s suggestion and sped up the count to a 4/4. It fixed the slightly awkward nature of it and found the exact rhythm he was looking for. “Good ear,” he said, turning back to the assistant. 

“I do have my ways.” The assistant looked at him through slightly narrowed eyes. “I was not aware that you would be coming back so soon, Yasuo. Finished moving everything already?” 

Agh. The stagehand’s voice made him almost squirm, he had forgotten how smooth his voice was. It sounded vaguely familiar, and when Yasuo tried to place it, he remembered the dream he had just a few nights ago. The tips of his ears reddened and he turned away, forcing himself to look at the LEDs on his musical setup. 

“Not quite. We’re shipping over the second half now, but I wanted to come up and practice some. Can’t get rusty before Worlds.”

“Right. A shame you’ll be heading back so soon, we’ve quite missed you around here.” The stagehand said, elegantly walking up to Yasuo. He gestured at the seat next to him. “Mind if I…”

“Sure, go ahead.” Yasuo tried to keep his eyes off the assistant. He had no idea why, but this man triggered his fight or flight reflexes- did his body know something he didn’t? 

The stagehand sat down next to him, crossing his legs and folding his gloved hands over his lap elegantly. His eyes flickered from Yasuo down to the soundboard. 

“So, what brings you here, uh…” Yasuo trailed off, remembering he didn’t even know the man’s name. 

The stagehand tilted his head at him, considering. He took just a second too long to answer the question. “My name is Khada.” 

Something about this man’s voice made him either want to draw his katana on him, run away from him as fast as possible, and take him for a drink at the same time. Of course, no one had the same effect on him as Jhin’s voice did, but he’d be damned if he didn’t say that this man was a close second. Something about him slightly unnerved him, but he probably had far fewer strings attached than the literal Golden Demon.

“Right, Khada,” he lowered the volume a bit, then started tapping out a softer combination of random keys just to keep his anxious hands busy. “What did you say brought you here? Are you a musician yourself?” 

“I would certainly consider myself an artist, but I did not come here to practice today. Akali sent me down to collect that,” he gestured smoothly to the notebook Yasuo was referencing. 

Something about this man was unsettling, dangerous even. He had no cause for suspicion, but as he was drawn into Khada’s words, he felt like an insignificant bug being enveloped by warm sap, only to find itself trapped in amber far too late to escape. His instincts were normally accurate, but Khada’s energy was so magnetic he wanted to sink down deeper into it: after all, nothing could be as bad as the Golden Demon Yasuo was currently head over heels for. 

However, he could never explain the blossom on his chest to him, or the intricacies of his past, or things that only Jhin seemed to understand as well as he did. He was a tough bundle of string to unravel, and paired with the danger of Jhin’s wrath on Khada, it was probably best for him not to get caught up in any spur-of-the-moment decisions. 

Still, Khada’s smooth words were attractive as hell, and he found himself searching for ways to stretch out the conversation, just to hear him talk to him a little longer. No wrong in simply admiring from a distance, right? He barely remembered what Khada had said to him, more focused on the way his voice sounded and how dignified he looked with the way he had positioned himself towards Yasuo. 

“Y-You can take it now if you’d like,” Yasuo said, cursing himself for the stutter. He picked up the notebook and offered it to him.” 

Khada visibly smirked at the stutter and waved the notebook away with a gloved hand. “It’s no hurry, and I’d prefer to spend a bit more time with another artist. Plus, this studio has a certain aura you cannot replicate anywhere else.” 

Yasuo looked away from him, trying to pretend that he wouldn’t notice his blush. He didn’t know what about the man was so mysteriously attractive, or why the dream he had nearly forgotten about was rising up once more right when Khada was there to talk to him. “I can agree with that.” 

He continued to pretend to busy himself with his music. In the notebook, he took the section of music he had been inspired from, drew an arrow from it, and wrote “Yas’ suggestions.” As he worked and solidified what he thought would work for the rhythm of the song, he made edits underneath her original work. Unable to stand the awkward silence after a few minutes, he asked Khada the first thing that came to mind. “So, you described yourself as an artist…?” 

He nodded. “Yes, I have quite the aptitude for the violin, if you would believe it. I also find myself to be traditionally artistic as well- I have experimented throughout all the different mediums, but over the years, I found myself growing attached to the more… unconventional methods. 

Yasuo wasn’t an artist, so he wasn’t sure what half of the stuff Khada just said to him meant. He glanced over at Khada through the corner of his eye. “I didn’t originally consider it, but if I had to choose, you’d definitely strike me as a violin person from the little I know about you. It suits you.” 

“Thank you.” He leaned forwards slightly, and Yasuo tensed. “I think our talents would mix will together- perhaps we should do a collaboration sometime.” 

This guy was hard to read. That single sentence  _ could  _ mean he genuinely wanted to collaborate on a song simply because he thought their musical styles would suit one another, it could also be a flirtatious gesture in some twisted way, or he could simply be trying to profit off Yasuo by getting his own name tagged onto a new song. These men always confused the hell out of Yasuo, but he always seemed to fall for them. 

He decided to take the safe route and give an answer that could be taken any one of those ways. “I could see that happening.” 

Suddenly, Khada’s phone went off, and he thought he caught a spark of genuine irritation leap up into his eyes before being smoothed over. He answered, and Yasuo just barely caught Akali’s voice over the other end. “Yes, I found it, I am bringing it up now.” 

After Akali hung up, Khada rose, picking up the notebook Yasuo had handed to him. “I would  _ kill  _ to stay longer, but I really must leave. I will say it was quite unexpected to see you back up here, but I’m glad you’re back- if only for a little bit.”

“Thank you, Khada.” Yasuo looked up into the man’s eyes- the man’s  _ gorgeous  _ amber eyes and swallowed nervously. “I, uh, I’ll see you around then?” 

A glint of an emotion Yasuo didn’t understand passed over him. “Most definitely.” 

With that, Khada walked out the door, an elegant gait to his step. Soon, he heard the front door close, and Yasuo breathed a little easier. That man certainly twisted his mind up into pieces. 

He looked over at the time and saw that more time than he realized had passed. So much so to where Yasuo wouldn’t get strange looks if he went out drinking during this time. He needed a drink, especially after the past few days paired with whatever the hell that just was. 

He wrapped up the studio as best as he could, tidying up after himself and powering down the electrical equipment he had been using. He gave a polite nod to Dylan as he headed out the door, and walked in the direction of the bar he frequented when he had been living here prior to the case. 

It wasn’t a far walk, and Yasuo had been able to clear the distance in just a few minutes, but his limp slowed him down worse than he thought. He winced- he had sustained far worse injuries in his youth without this type of effect. Was he truly growing older, his body’s reparation systems falling out of use? He knew that Ionia would not stop sending assassins, so what would happen when his reflexes inevitably dulled? Or if he got a worse injury? Would he fall to the hands of an assassin after besting dozens of them throughout his life? 

He supposed it would be ironic: he hoped someone who trained in whatever Elder Souma’s school had turned into would be the one to best him, or perhaps another swordsman. At least he could contribute to some form of peace within his life. 

He finally reached the doors of the bar, looking inside the decorative window. It was only around eight at night, so the heavy crowds hadn’t hit the bar just yet, but there were certainly people milling around. He wanted a place to sit and clear his mind, so he decided he would take his drink to one of the places he discovered a few weeks ago. 

Yasuo pushed open the door, and the bartender waved in his direction. “Ah! Yasuo! Good see you, friend.” 

“Good to see you too, Dmitri.” 

“What I can get you? Ready try vodka?” 

Now, Yasuo was no lightweight, but Dmitri’s vodka could knock his ass out in a couple of sips. “Not tonight, Dmitri. I’d like to know where I am when I wake up this time.” 

“Come on! For you I give! Дешёвка!” 

Yasuo laughed. “No, no. Just sake tonight- the same as usual.”

Dmitri turned, grabbing an ornate green and gold bottle from a higher shelf. “You like me put on tab, or you pay now?” 

“I’ll pay for it now.” The security agency had caused him enough stress to crave a drink, so therefore this one should be on them- it only made sense, right? He handed the russian man the credit card. 

“Not see you long time. Thought you gave up drinking!” Dmitri gave a hearty laugh as he rang up the total price. 

“Come on, I thought you knew me better than that.” 

Dmitri handed over the bottle of sake and the credit card. “You had me scared! No great warrior without drink.” 

“Now that,” Yasuo said, looking over his shoulder as he walked towards the door, “is something I can agree with. I’ll be back soon, trust me.” 

Dmitri waved, then turned back to his other patrons when the door closed behind him. Even though it was only 8pm, the creeping winter made the nights darker than ever. A few weeks ago, Yasuo had stumbled upon a location that helped him clear his mind, and it was something he really needed at the moment. 

This town was a seaside one, so there were multiple locations where one could sit and observe the constellations sparkling over the surface of an endless abyss. He had found one where he was mostly hidden from view, and surrounded by little more than sparsely used buildings. That is where he could sit and think clearly, enjoying his sake and undisturbed time alone. 

He remembered how to get there, but part of the journey was uphill, making him wince. The amount of walking he was doing was likely only making it worse, but being cooped up in a room made him tense and frustrated. The cold was probably the worst part, however. It made the gashes in his calf and even the light lines underneath his shirt bite with the piercing wind. 

Eventually, he found his way to his spot, and it was just as deserted and peaceful as it had ever been. He untied the saya from around his waist, placing it and the katana at his side. He sat down comfortably, a hand around the top of the bottle, and looked out over the gentle waves across the black ocean. 

He opened up the bottle of sake and took a sip of the dark, rich taste. He had tried many sake variants throughout his life, but Dmitri’s was one of his favorites- outside of any Ionian brewery, of course. It had been many years since he had gotten to sample something as fine as true Ionian alcohol. 

He sighed wistfully, thinking about some of the people he had grown up with. Were they at these same Ionian breweries? Did they have families by this time? How much had changed? Did they ever catch Elder Souma’s true murderer? 

As the sky darkened, so did the ocean. The ocean was deep and mysterious, and now that the surface of endless stars dotted over the shifting waves, it looked like a portal to another dimension. He wondered what that cold, icy, yet beautiful dimension would be like. Would he still be where he stood today? Would he find himself in a better spot, or not at all? 

His mind drifted to Jhin, and he took a longer sip. What else had he missed at the crime scene? A critical meetup location, where he was waiting now as Yasuo was miles away from the streets of Shanghai? A threat, an invitation, something else? 

In the far distance, Yasuo heard the gentle thud of someone leaping down from a higher location, but in a way that would make them nearly unheard. He froze, straining his ears for sound. He slowly put his sake bottle down next to him and slid his hand over to the handle of his katana, but waited on drawing it out of the saya. He didn’t want to alert whoever may be sneaking up on him that he realized they were there. 

Of course, he knew that doing this made him a paranoid old fool- but a living one at that. More often than not, it was simply a cat leaping down, or a trick of the wind, but for that one final percent…

Footsteps. Definitely footsteps. He forced his breathing to be even, listening to the very light noise this person was making. He waited, tortuously long until they were within what could be visible range. He sprung up, drawing his katana and throwing his saya to the side in one clean arc, turning around poised at the ready. 

His heart plunged. There was no mistaking it- after months of silence, there was an Ionian assassin standing right before him. The traditional Ionian wardrobe, the stance he held his body in, and the unbeaten confidence in his eyes- this was the real deal. He carried two hooklike curved blades, one that Yasuo could easily see piercing through him and not letting him go. 

“ ** _Yasuo!_** _”_ The assassin shouted in the traditional Ionian language- one that Yasuo hadn’t spoken in many years but one he had never forgotten. **“You are the murderer of your master, your brother, and countless Ionian lives. I do not give my name to honorless dogs! You shall know me as your executioner.”** The assassin lifted a cruel, hooked blade. **“Any last words, Unforgiven?”**

That voice… Yasuo studied what he could see of the assassin’s face, appalled. The one sent to kill him was a teenager at best. **“They’re.. poisoning you against me.”** He replied slowly in the Ionian dialect. This child was likely not even born the day Yasuo was cast out. **“You don’t even know who I am.”**

**“I know you are a murderer, an honorless dog. And I know you will die by my hand.”** And with that, the teenage assassin leaped forward, hooked blades at the ready. If Yasuo got caught by just the edge of one, he would be hooked in for the rest of his life- which would be approximately a dozen seconds. 

Yasuo dodged the cocky dive the assassin made as his first move, parrying the blades. His calf screamed out in pain at the sudden motion, and a chill of icy fear went down his spine. His leg. His fucking leg would get him killed here- he wasn’t equipped to move fast and match such a highly trained top assassin blow for blow, much less kill him before his energy levels surpassed his own. 

The assassin quickly regained his posture, ready to use the momentum to flip back onto Yasuo. He seemed to move in slow motion. Yasuo had felt fear many times in his life. He felt it the first time he came face to face with an Ionian assassin. He felt it the first time he looked upon the Golden Demon. Hell, he had even felt it the first time he performed with True Damage. 

But this? This was something entirely different, something of its own breed. He felt like he was looking death in its cruel, merciless eyes, watching in slow motion as he was struck down through the perspective of another. His death, as it leaped towards him, didn’t feel real. This is how he would fall, after decades of guilt, fear, and running. He would be struck down by the hands of Ionian justice after all, a poetic end to a circle of justice. 

He was done for. He had put too much instinctive pressure on his back leg to pivot towards the assassin initially, and it screamed in pain. He was standing on adrenaline alone, and there was only so long he could parry the quick, unrelenting attacks from this position before he slipped and was hooked into his own death. 

He would not cower in its face. He would not go down disgracefully, but here, there was only death: his, or the assassins and it was clear between the two who it was going to be. Yasuo would die here, like a lowly criminal, likely never to be found again. He supposed it was ironic. Was this how Elder Souma felt in his last moments? If there was such a thing as an afterlife, it would be nice to speak with him again. 

Yasuo tensed towards him, ready to connect blades, but the blades never reached him. He had sprung forward, but the clear, unmistakable ring of a gunshot rang through the air. It hit the assassin with a sniper’s aim, a hit to the back of the head with the intention of immediate death. And that is what the Ionian assassin received- he was dead before he hit the ground, the blades slipping out of his hands. He was lucky his corpse wasn’t impaled on one of them. 

Yasuo snapped his head over to the source of the noise, unable to hide the look of utter disbelief that came over him. Standing on top of one of the buildings that overlooked where Yasuo was sitting and the ocean, the Golden Demon himself stood, the metallic gold that covered his body glinting in the moonlight. Even from a distance, Yasuo could see how rigidly tense he was, and he spun his pistol in his metal hand a few times before returning it to his holster and jumping down from the building. 

The Golden Demon, the man who had brought an end to so many lives, had just saved his. 

Jhin stalked towards Yasuo and the corpse, his walk heavy with tension- a stark contrast to his typical elegance.  **“Is this what Ionia has fallen to?”** Jhin said bitterly, glaring at the body through his mask.  **“They send children to murder men they know nothing of?”**

Yasuo was in too much shock to even choke out a reply. He hadn’t even processed the fact that he was still alive, and that it was Jhin who had saved his life. He hadn’t processed the fact that Jhin was here, meaning he knew the location of KDA, the ones Yasuo was trying to protect. He hadn’t processed the fact that Jhin was Ionian and the fact that he spoke with the fluency of a native speaker. And he especially hadn’t processed the fact that Jhin likely knew of his history within Ionia.

“You are lucky that I just learned of your relocation here, rather than back in Shanghai. You could have died.” Jhin said, his voice tenser and more gruff than usual. “I had not intended on making my presence known to you.” 

At his silence, Jhin glanced over, his feathers still ruffled from the encounter. He reached out his normal arm to touch Yasuo’s shoulder. “Alright?” 

The fear, panic, and absolute excruciating pain washed over him. This was the closest brush with death he had for quite some time, and the fear had only gripped him tighter even after it was over. The fact that not only did Jhin save his life, but chose to do so while still likely knowing about his past and the things he had done, knowing that this death was entirely justified washed over him all too quickly. At the slight touch, he fell towards Jhin, a surprised grunt coming from him as he caught him on instinct. 

Jhin readjusted his grip on him so he could better peer at Yasuo’s wounded leg. “You have thinner skin than what I suspected. I fear my trap cut too deeply- you may have nerve damage, and I suspect that you did not receive the medical attention you needed to begin with.” 

Yasuo wanted to say something back to Jhin, anything, but his chest was so impossibly tight. His mind would not think straight, and he couldn’t even gasp for air. His breath came out in desperate wheezes, his entire body shuttering. He had not had a panic attack in many years, but the mixed, intense factors paired with the pain was far too much for him. 

Jhin sighed, tilting his head back slightly. He moved his arms so that Yasuo could lay more comfortably in his grip, holding him closer to his chest but refused to put him down. “I do not know what to do.” He said quietly, considering. “You need medical attention. You have overworked it one too many times. I do not want the damage to be permanent, but I do not know how to get you there.” 

Yasuo felt his body shudder in Jhin’s arms, possibly from the spikes of pain coming from the nerves in his calf, perhaps from the panic attack. Likely both. He felt so detached from everything, understanding that his body was shaking but not feeling it. He knew that Jhin’s fingers were tapping an anxious four count into his side, but it was as if he were watching it from a distance rather than experiencing it for himself. 

Jhin took a few steps forward, pushing the corpse into a shadowy area with a golden boot. He also moved his katana and the sake into a different shadowy section. “I’ll take care of the body later, you have no need to worry about it.” 

Jhin stood there, contemplating a moment longer, Yasuo still shaking in his arms. He had never been a man of inaction but he had also never been in such a situation. He gave a deep, pained sigh, realizing the best course of action. “Love,” he began slowly, “can you keep a secret for me?” 

Yasuo could process what Jhin said, but could not connect what he said to any meaning. He looked up at Jhin through the corner of an eye, searching. 

Jhin said nothing, remaining uncharacteristically silent. He carried him back into the abandoned building that he was standing on top of, ducking underneath the spiderweb of the worn entrance. He took another deep breath, trying to regain his composure. 

There was a black bag in the corner of the room. Jhin walked over to it, going down on one knee to set him down on the ground next to it. He unzipped the bag, and from Yasuo’s angle on the floor, could see a collection of fairly normal clothing: entirely different from what Yasuo typically wore. 

Jhin hesitated once more, looking over at Yasuo on the ground. “This is not how I had planned to do this, but I suppose your health matters more than my flair for the dramatic.” And with that, Jhin put his hands up to his mask, pushing it up and sliding it off of his face, quickly combing a hand through his slightly ruffled hair. 

_ Oh. It’s the assistant.  _ His mind said uselessly, the fangs of shock still tearing through his body. He felt no shockwave of emotion from the realization, but he had a dull awareness of how absolutely critical this was. He was lying there, learning of the true identity of the Golden Demon, and of the one who his heart craved so badly. Jhin was putting so much trust in him for this- all Yasuo had to do was report the identity of the Golden Demon, and he was dead. 

Jhin changed quickly into the outfit that made him Khada. Yasuo watched as he pulled long sleeves and gloves over his arms, entirely hiding the golden left arm that served as a defining characteristic of the Golden Demon.  _ Oh, so that’s why Khada wears those.  _

Yasuo’s thoughts came in slow, exhausted waves. His chest burned from heaving, and he wanted to blackout from exhaustion and pain and to just escape all the realizations he had been faced with tonight. 

Jhin finished changing into his normal clothes, packing away the outfit of the Golden Demon and his mask. He walked over to where he had placed Yasuo, and reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. “Now, I am not trying to rob you,” Jhin said, trying to reach his old bravado, “but I need this to support our story.” He slipped the wallet into his bag and picked up Yasuo once more. 

He walked at a brisk pace back to the main building of the security agency. Yasuo could feel his consciousness beginning to fade in the warmth of Jhin’s arms, but he muttered out one word. “Khada..” 

“Mmhmm..” Jhin said, glancing down at him. “My first name. Were you surprised? Eternally enthralled with both of my personas? Maybe a little bit of both?” He teased him, smirking tiredly. “I do prefer Jhin though.” 

Although Jhin was trying to tease him, Yasuo could feel the rigid tension in his arms. He was probably exhausted from carrying Yasuo, and perhaps just as panicked as he was. Yasuo was likely the only person alive who knew Khada and Jhin were the same person, and this knowledge could easily end his life, especially when reported by a main investigator like Yasuo. But still, he never hesitated in carrying him right to the front door of the security agency, the agency that would like nothing more than to execute him. 

He pushed open the door to the agency’s temporary headquarters with his shoulder, clearing his throat as he moved into the slightly higher voice he used for Khada. 

The agent on duty leaped up, shock striking across his face. “What’s going on here!? Is that Yasuo? What is this?” 

Khada spoke in his usual tone, using the smooth, elegant language he was known for around the agency but adding a note of panic into his voice. “I went out to grab a drink after finishing up my work for today with Akali. I went to the bar just a few streets down that way,” he gestured with a nod, “and found him crumpled in the alley next to it. I believe he was jumped and robbed by a collection of people.” 

“Him? There’s no way, he always carries that katana with him.” 

“Yes, usually, but I do not think they would let him into the bar with it. On top of that, he suffered a past injury, I am not sure from what, that has gone untreated for so long. They likely exploited that to rob him, as they knew a celebrity would likely have quite a bit of money on them.” 

The agent froze, knowing the exact injury Khada seemed to be innocently referencing but not wanting to give away Yasuo’s “secret” investigation. “Ah. I understand. Is he conscious?” 

“No, he definitely isn’t,” Jhin began, jabbing a nail into Yasuo’s side so he’d get the message. At that, Yasuo allowed himself to go a limp a bit more convincingly. “It may be a psychological shock, or perhaps an unseen injury. He  _ needs  _ medical attention.” 

“Thank you so much for your help. I will take it from here.”

Jhin tapped one last goodbye into Yasuo’s back, then handed him over to the security agent. He watched Yasuo, his eyes unable to tear away from his form, but then turned towards the door as the agent carried him to a back room.

Yasuo heard the door shut as the man who had saved his life, at the potential cost of his own, walked off into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was really fun to write... added the hurt/comfort tag ;)
> 
> Thank you so so much to my commenters, just to name a few: Seungyoon, Zelard, MapleLokidottir, Igkee, and everyone else! I reread all of your comments over and over, they motivate me to write and cheer me up even when I'm having a bad day <3 see you next time!


	7. Chapter 7

Yasuo’s consciousness faded in and out over the next few minutes? Hours? Days? He was aware of being moved to a separate building, and of both familiar and unfamiliar voices, but his chest still felt rigidly tight and the pain shooting up from the serves in his left calf were enough to make him pass back out just to escape it all. 

He woke once or twice in what seemed to be a type of medical room, though it didn’t have the eerie atmosphere and chemical scent of a hospital. The third time he woke up, the pain in his calf seemed to have subsided enough for it to be tolerable. Or perhaps he had just gotten used to the pain over time. 

He lifted up some, putting his weight on his elbows as he sat up and it immediately attracted the attention of a nurse. She rushed over to him, waving a hand at him. “Hey, stay in bed, alright? Don’t get up too quickly or you may fall over.” 

Yasuo squinted at her but listened to what she said. “How long have I been here?” 

“Not long, roughly 37 hours since you were first brought in.” 

Yasuo cringed. Another two days towards Worlds lost without any progress on securing the event enough for it to occur. He wondered if this event was enough to push Jackson to cancel it altogether. “Who brought me in?”

“Don’t you remember? It was one of the people from your agency, I believe he works directly under K/DA but I didn’t quite catch his name. He came in here once or twice to see you, so I suspected you may have been close. He was rather short-tempered honestly.” 

Short tempered was NOT the adjective Yasuo would have expected her to describe Jhin with, but in all honesty, even he didn’t know how to describe the man. However, the important part of her phrase was that she didn’t catch Jhin’s, or rather Khada’s, name. Would it be to their advantage to play it as if he didn’t truly know Khada, or would it only incriminate one of them? 

“Ah. That’s.. interesting.” Yasuo said awkwardly, trying to change the subject. “So what’s wrong with me?” 

The nurse relaxed some, glad to talk about something she was actually knowledgeable about. “The injury isn’t as bad as we feared- we figured out the reason it seemed to be so intense was that you simultaneously seemed to be showing signs of a panic attack,” she shifted her weight awkwardly. “Which, uh, makes sense for anyone given that they were robbed. Nothing strange or to be ashamed of at all.” 

Yasuo cringed at the fact he had a panic attack, especially one in front of Jhin. That alone was bad enough, Jhin knowing the reasons behind it even if he didn’t know that it was the cause was worse. He tried to keep his mind off of it.

“We looked at your calf one more time and found that the injury cut far deeper than originally reported. Luckily, it didn’t sever anything but you will have pain, especially now that you ripped the injury a bit more in the fight. You won’t need surgery or physical therapy unless you don’t listen to what I’m about to tell you.” She fixed him with a serious glare. 

Yasuo nodded, trying not to sigh. 

“We have already injected you with some medication, but you need to finish off the dosage by taking pills the next few days. They should help the area repair itself and clear off any pain. In addition, I’m going to show you some stretches that you NEED to do a few times a day, otherwise it won’t heal properly or stop hurting within a decent amount of time. And,” she leaned in as intimidatingly as she could, “do not get yourself tangled up in strenuous events! No running, no fighting, or else next time you won’t be able to walk!” 

“I understand- show me these stretches?” He said as politely as he could, noting what she said in the back of his mind. He was more focused on calling Jackson to see what had changed as quickly as he could. 

She showed him each of the stretches, only four of which in total, and left him alone once she made sure he could do each of them properly. He was told that his work phone was not taken by the attackers, and he nodded, commenting on the luck before dialing up Jackson. 

Jackson, as in character as ever, picked up on the first ring. “Hello Yasuo, I’m glad to see you’ve recovered at least some. How are you feeling?” 

Yasuo narrowed his eyes. “Just fine, thank you. Let’s cut to the chase- what’s going on?” 

Jackson was silent for a moment, but it wasn’t as if he didn’t expect Yasuo to cut through all the formalities. “I think it would be better for me to tell you in person.” He said cryptically. 

“That doesn’t sound too good.. can you tell me something now so I can learn the context?” 

“No. I will be there in an hour, Yasuo.” And with that, he hung up, leaving Yasuo to listen to the quiet beeps on the other end. 

A deep knot of unease settled in the pit of his stomach, and he looked for ways to busy himself as he waited for Jackson. He got up and walked around the room, practicing some of the stretches and peering at his bandaged leg. It stung, but the medicine did its work well, although it left the back of his mind a bit fuzzy. 

The nurse was nice enough to bring him tea later on, and although it wasn’t caffeinated, he still was grateful. He spent the next few minutes on the bed, going over the past few days in his mind. He didn’t have time to think for very long, however, as the door opened up and Jackson stepped in with a distant expression on his face. 

Yasuo set the tea down and sat up slightly, looking over at Jackson. 

The silence was awkward and difficult to cut through. Jackson cleared his throat, looking at his bandaged leg. “So, uh, the treatment working for you?” 

Yasuo narrowed his eyes. “Yes. 37 hours, Jackson. What happened?” 

“We tried to track down anyone who may have been in the area when you were jumped, but we didn’t find many leads. We did find the person who brought you in, through. His name is Khada- he’s been working under us and K/DA personally for quite some time.”

His heart sank, but he tried not to show it. So Khada had become more than a forgettable background piece and showed an involvement with Yasuo.

“We made sure to give him a proper thank you, but he’s quite… the odd person, honestly. No offense.” He shifted his weight awkwardly. “I wasn’t aware you two knew each other.” 

“Well, I’ve talked to him a few times, seen him around, but it’s not as if we were drinking buddies. I suppose he just has a high moral standard, most probably would have left me lying on the ground. I should thank him in person later.” 

“Right…” Jackson trailed off. 

Yasuo picked up on his attempt to stall. “But that surely isn’t the most important part. What happened with the Golden Demon? What’s the plan on Worlds?” 

He took a very, very long time to answer. “For the few days you were back up here, there hasn’t been a singular murder by the Golden Demon.” He hesitated again. “People like Brandon see this as incriminating evidence, as the Golden Demon had been on a spree prior.” 

“How the fuck would I tie myself to a chair, Jackson?” 

“I know, I know. I certainly don’t believe him, but he is within his right to log you as the prime suspect.” 

Yasuo sighed. “What about Worlds?” 

“We need to give at least a three days notice for the Worlds cancellation, although I’m willing to bet most of the audience has already flown over.” 

“We may not even have to cancel Worlds at all.” 

Jackson looked over at Yasuo tiredly. “Unless we find the real Golden Demon within the next few days, and either kill or imprison him based on his response, we will have to cancel Worlds. It is a matter of safety.” 

His gut twisted strangely at the thought of either killing or imprisoning Jhin. “If I am the prime suspect for the case, could you put me in like.. a holding cell for the duration of the performance?” 

Jackson shook his head. “That would only satisfy the legal aspect. We all know that you are not the Golden Demon, so putting you in a cell would only remove a line of defense and put K/DA in danger regardless. And,” he tilted his head at Yasuo, “could you imagine the sheer backlash you, K/DA, and the company as a whole would receive if you weren’t there to perform? Don’t forget that there are some people flying out just to see you.” 

“So what’s the plan now?” 

“I have people working overtime down in Shanghai, and all the routes from here to there. If they don’t turn up anything within the next few days, I will tell K/DA we need to cancel Worlds, and then I will make an official announcement.” He sighed. “And then, I will put together a legal team for lawsuits.” 

“What can I do?” 

“I need you to recover for at least another day or two. The Golden Demon may be trying to frame you, or worse, planning the culmination of his work at Worlds, so we need you at peak performance for then.” 

“I understand that. Please call me if your team finds anything.” 

Jackson nodded. “Count on it.” 

As quickly as he had arrived, Jackson left, being the ever-busy man that he was. Yasuo wondered if he had a family or anything he cared about outside of the agency. It seemed difficult, as Jackson seemed to never get the chance to rest or take time to himself. He deserved a break and a raise by the time this situation blew over. 

Yasuo did a few of his stretches once again as he started to think about the next few days. Both him and K/DA had worked hard for countless hours on the ALL/OUT album. He remembered all the late nights they spent together, the tears and the stress, on top of the millions of dollars the company had sunk into them. They had worked too hard for it to get robbed from them at the last minute, especially if Yasuo had the opportunity to save it all. He could make all their work worth it, give Jackson the break he deserved, and potentially save dozens of lives in the future. 

So why wasn’t he running, or perhaps speedwalking with his leg, to Jackson to admit that Khada was the Golden Demon, and showing the copious amounts of proof that he had? Saving Yasuo’s own life did not atone for the dozens he had taken in the past. It was a child’s dream to hope that Jhin was doing this for a bigger reason, such as all the victims being murderers or criminals themselves and he was an angel bringing ruthless judgment upon them. Just because Jhin happened to be the one to get through Yasuo’s armored heart didn’t mean he should be immune to the justice he deserved, regardless of the intensive attraction he had suddenly developed for him. 

Yasuo felt a spike of irritation. Wherever Evelynn went, male celebrities seemed to turn up permanently missing. It was clear why, but she was never persecuted for it- was _she_ above the law simply because she was a member of K/DA? Yasuo had people turn up missing wherever he went, and he had been kicked out of his fucking homeland early in his life. However, he wasn’t being persecuted for this either. What made him and Evelynn above the law but a Jhin a person who needed to be crushed by it? 

Of course, Jhin was more flashy with his murders, and perhaps in a bad location, but they were murders all the same. If you combined Yasuo and Evelynn’s disappearance count, it would probably rise high above the Golden Demon’s credited murders. 

Justice was so subjective, especially with “celebrities.” Why should Yasuo turn in the man he was growing to lov- _strongly like,_ the man who had saved his life, and have yet another weight of guilt and regret haunt him for the rest of his years while Evelynn killed unabashedly without consequence? The day that he saw himself and Evelynn get persecuted for _their_ murders was the day he would turn in the Golden Demon. Fair’s fair. 

However, he didn’t want to cancel Worlds. He needed to figure out a solution to the issue, as was nowhere near mentally capable of dealing with all the drama and attention a cancellation would bring. In addition, although he didn’t think it was very likely, it was worth a shot to talk to Jhin about why he did the murders, and perhaps suggest him off the path. He didn’t think it would work out, but it would settle his conscience a bit. 

One thing he was sure of, however, was the fact that he was leaving this medical containment chamber before it gave him irreversible claustrophobia. He stood up, walking around some, and found that his calf felt better than it had in days. Perhaps getting real medical treatment rather than just bandaging it up actually worked. 

When the nurse returned, he alerted her that he intended on leaving. To his surprise, she didn’t protest the fact, simply commenting on how the medicine should work to where he wouldn’t have pain if he took it easy and continued doing his stretches. She was also carrying some of the clothes from his apartment: apparently, someone had gone in and retrieved a set when he was stuck here the past few days. 

He took a quick shower before leaving, desperately wanting to wash the events of the past few days off. After changing into the clothes, he found a new keycard to the hotel room in one of the pockets and considered going straight there. He later dismissed the thought, as he didn’t have any reason to move from one purposeless room to another. 

The pants were long and hid the bandaged calf well, and he found it easier to walk without a limp. He thanked the nurse for her help one last time before walking out of the front door of the medical center. 

To his surprise, the center wasn’t too far from the studio K/DA practiced at. It was around midday, so there was a good chance he’d run into one of them. Seeing as he had nowhere else to go at the moment, he took his time carefully walking over to the studio.

Yasuo felt a bit defenseless as he didn’t have his katana with him anymore. He remembered Jhin mentioning he would “take care” of the assassin’s body, so he wondered if he had also retrieved his precious katana as well. He had no way of dialing up Jhin to ask, so the next time he ran into him he would have to find out. His skin crawled at the fact that he could be vulnerable for days, depending on when he decided to reveal himself once more. 

He soon found himself at the entrance to the familiar studio, and as he walked in, he heard the familiar buzz of the K/DA girls. His heart jumped, happy to be able to practice with the other members of the team that he really cared about. Dylan looked up and waved at him as he made his way to their designated room. 

As soon as he pushed open the studio door, he was nearly knocked over by a swift pink-and-blue blur. Seraphine tackled him in a hug, squeezing him tightly. “ _Yasuo!”_

He hugged her back, half surprised at the energy and half struggling to breathe. “Sera. Ribs. Please.”

“Sorry, sorry!” She lessened her grip. “We were so worried about you Yasuo! Are you okay?” 

He smiled softly. “I’ve seen better days, but I feel alright. Thanks for the concern.” He looked up from Seraphine and looked over the studio. Akali was sitting in her typical chair, her motorcycle helmet beside her. In the next room over, he could see that Kai’sa had been showing Ahri and Evelynn the last part of the choreography they were stuck on through the glass. However, everyone had stopped when Yasuo had walked in. 

He waved over at the three currently practicing, and they nodded, Kai’sa soon drawing their attention back to their routine. He looked over at Akali, and she gave the smallest of gestures for him to come over, something that Seraphine missed entirely. He looked over at her, acknowledging, but then turned back to Seraphine. “What have I missed?” 

She bounced excitedly, her pink hair flowing with the same energy her body held. “Oh, it looks so sharp now Yasuo! We’ve all worked really hard and it’s coming together so well- your melodies are so perfect, and we have the nicest routine I’ve ever seen.” She gestured over excitedly as Kai’sa hit a button that started the familiar rhythm of MORE from a point just before the chorus. 

The girls waited, frozen in time as the song progressed. The first note of the chorus hit, and Yasuo watched as they exploded into energy, each of their moves perfectly synchronized to one another and matching the rhythm of the song. “That _does_ look clean,” he said, in awe of how well they adapted his song into a dance routine. “You guys have been working hard.” 

Seraphine nodded excitedly. “It’s so close now, I can hardly believe it. Ahri’s taking me to get my hair dyed this gorgeous blue color to go with my performance outfit after this.” 

Yasuo looked over at her out of the corner of his eye. “That is going to look really cool. I’ll keep an eye out for pictures for when it’s done.” 

She seemed to inflate with positive energy as he talked, so it was hard to hold back the compliment. She really lit up a room when she walked in, and she was probably the easiest to hold a conversation with out of all of K/DA. It was nice to be around enthusiastic fresh talent. 

She reached over to grab the end of his ponytail, feeling through the ends of his hair. “Are you going to dye it back to white for Worlds? Those AAPE photos came out so well, I was so jealous of you and Akali.” 

He laughed softly. “I don’t think I have a say in the matter, but I probably won’t get it done tonight. Don’t want to overwork the poor hairdresser with _two_ people and their overly long hair, do we?” 

Seraphine laughed. “I guess that’s fair!” 

“Seraphine! This is the part you come in, we need you!” Kai’sa shouted suddenly. 

Sera shot him an apologetic look. “Sorry Yasuo, I have to go. It was really nice talking to you again.” 

He nodded. “Don’t worry about it, I’d love to watch what you’ve been working on as well.”

As she walked into the next room, Yasuo found a seat next to Akali. He watched as Kai’sa began to explain something to Seraphine, but turned to Akali within a few moments. “Why aren’t you out there too?” 

“We spent a lot of time earlier focusing on my solo, and those three are having the most trouble with the end choreography. I’ve got it down so we’re letting them iron out the last kinks in the routine.” She glanced over at him. “How are you feeling?” 

“Better. A bit shaken up, I guess.”

She nodded. “I can see why.” 

They watched Kai’sa explain foot movement to Seraphine for the second time, and after a minute or two of silence, Akali looked over at him curiously. “So, Khada?” 

Yasuo nearly jumped out of his chair, blindsided. “Excuse me?” 

Akali smirked at his reaction, having confirmed all of her suspicions. “Mind telling me what’s going on between you two?” 

“I, uh, have no idea what you mean,” Yasuo said, trying not to fidget with the ends of his jacket.

“Riiiight. You must think I’m stupid.” She teased him, jabbing him in the ribs. “I had an inkling the first time I watched you meet Khada. You looked like you had a mini heart attack.” 

“That doesn’t mean anything!” He protested. 

“What about when I sent Khada down to get my notebook and he was even later than usual because he spent all his time talking to you when you got back, which he miraculously knew before the rest of us? Or when you got hurt, it was Khada dashing in to be your knight in shining armor and bringing you into the security agency? Which, no offense, strikes me as very out of character for him- _unless_ you were someone he really cared about.” She leaned in, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Say, you wouldn’t have anything to do with the reason he’s late to everything, would you now?” 

The tips of his ears burned. “What! No!” 

Akali laughed. “Calm down, I’m just teasing you. It’s good that you found someone though, you never were really interested in dating anyone.” At Yasuo’s hesitation, she added, “I believe I’m the only one who figured it out though, and your secret is safe with me. Everyone always sleeps on Khada, I’m glad you were able to see he’s a pretty cool person too.” 

Yasuo stayed silent, trying to kill his awful blush. This wasn’t like him, what about Jhin made him so damn _flustered!?_

She jabbed him in the side again. “Oh, loosen up some! What do you like about him?” She narrowed her eyes mischievously. “I’ll tell you who I like~.” 

Yasuo rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, “Oh, but that’s obvious. Who DOESN’T know?”

Now it was Akali’s turn to feel flustered. “What!? It can’t be obvious, you’re bluffing!” 

“Please, how many duo parts in the two K/DA music videos have you shot together? Evelynn can hardly keep her hands off you, and you two have fallen asleep on each other more than once in the back of the studio.”

Akali was blushing just as bad as he was. “Stop trying to distract from the point at hand, Yasuo.”

For some reason, he felt really tempted to talk to Akali about Jhin. He had kept his attraction to himself for far too long, and it would be nice to share at least some of the brighter parts. Plus, Akali was just easy to talk to. 

He sighed dramatically. “I better not hear about this on a gossip talk show tomorrow morning.” 

Akali mimed zipping her lips, her eyes sparkling with laughter. 

“He’s very sharp once you get to know him- just fun to talk to and he always keeps me on my toes.” Yasuo tilted his head. “I the way he talks, too. Very elegant and he has a nice voice.” He smirked, thinking about how massively he understated some of the traits, although it wasn’t technically lying.

Akali nodded. “I clearly don’t know him as well as you do, but I think his whole “I know something you don’t” vibe puts some people off, but I bet he’s a caring person when you get down to it, at least that’s what he showed the other night.” 

Yasuo thought about the lotus blossom carved into his chest and the absolute rage that had seemed to grasp Jhin when his life was threatened. Possessive may be a slightly more accurate term than caring, but he wasn’t about to debate Akali on it. 

He simply nodded. “What do you like about Evelynn?”

Akali was silent for a while, watching the woman in question practice the long string of movements over and over again. “She gets things done. She commands respect anywhere she goes, and she’s really protective of the people she cares about. I really admire that,” she smirked. “Also she’s really hot.” 

Yasuo laughed. “That still counts as a factor.” 

They spent a good while like that, watching the other K/DA girls practice and begin to get consistently perfect runs, all while trading secrets about the ones they not-so-secretly liked. It had been a very, very long time since he had done anything like this, and it built up some affectionate warmth in his chest towards both Khada and Akali. 

Eventually, other girls from K/DA walked back into the room, still a bit energetic from the practice. Akali stood up and applauded them dramatically. 

“Good practice today, we ran a little late but made a lot of progress,” Kai’sa said, looking over everyone proudly. 

Ahri nodded. “Agreed, but Seraphine and I need to get out of here now- we’re already slightly late to our hair appointment, we need to get her hair dyed tonight.” 

Akali looked over. “Oh, do you mind if I come with you? My roots are growing back in and I want to touch them up.” 

Seraphine nodded excitedly. “We’d love to have you along! Anyone else?” She looked hopefully over at the rest of the team, but no one piped up. 

The K/DA members began to pour out of the studio, saying their goodbyes and wishing Yasuo a quick recovery. He nodded politely, but most of his attention was on Evelynn. 

There was no doubt Akali knew about Evelynn’s questionable record. However, that didn’t stop her from developing attraction, and being fairly proud of it: at least proud enough to talk to Yasuo and be fairly blatant with her and Evelynn’s mutual feelings. Was the situation truly so different from his? 

Yasuo was the last one out, and he offered to help Dylan straighten up the studio after they all left. He refused, citing that it was what he was paid to do. 

He couldn’t really argue with that, so he stepped out of the studio and into the darkening evening. He hadn’t truly gotten used to it getting dark so soon, so it looked like they had stayed much later than what the clock read. It wasn’t a far walk to the hotel, so he opted to head home rather than going out drinking tonight, perhaps a bad taste in his mouth from the last time. 

He found his way back to the hotel with ease, a flicker of happiness at how easy it was for him to walk. He shouldn’t have waited so long to get actual medical attention. He nodded politely to the bored hotel receptionist, who gave him a dull smile as he headed over to the elevator. As anxious as the death box made him, his floor was far too high up to climb, even without a leg injury. 

He walked in, pressing the button for his floor and holding his breath. He focused on his conversation with Akali instead, letting the warm feeling fill his chest once more. Finally, the doors to the elevator opened, signifying that once again, today was not that day he died in the elevator. He walked to his room, his mind still on Jhin as he pulled out the new keycard and opened the door to his apartment.

The door creaked open, the apartment still pitch black from when he had left it, blinds drawn. He wished he had his katana to do his routine inspection, but he would simply have to retrieve the knife from his duffle bag first and then proceed with it, despite it being a much less effective weapon. 

He walked down the narrow entrance hallway to the open room. However, as soon as he took a step into the main room of the suite, a presence ambushed him from behind, grabbing onto his body and pushing him against theirs while drawing a katana- no, _his_ fucking katana, against his throat. The thing he liked about a katana was that it was a graceful one-edged sword, meaning that the dull spine of the blade was currently not slitting his throat as his attacker pressed it into him. It restrained him well, and could easily be turned, but he was certainly not dead as the cold, dull metal was held against him.

Yasuo’s heart pounded. He had no weapon on him, and the attacker was in too good of a position for him to wrestle out of. The only thing he could do was stall for time, or hope for an opening, but he was more likely than not dead. Why was this, out of all the days, the day an Ionian assassin ambushed him within his own apartment? Had all of those prior half-paranoid searches been for nothing?

Since he was pressed so tightly against his attacker, he could feel even the slightest movement of his attacker leaning down slightly to murmur something in his ear. “You left your keycard in your wallet,” Jhin taunted into his ear.

_“Fuck you.”_ Yasuo hissed at him, the fear evaporating but the tension in the room increasing. He vaguely remembered Jhin taking his wallet to support their story, but apparently, he had looked through it and gained access to his hotel room, by extent landing them in the situation he was locked into now.

“Only if you want me to,” Jhin purred, sliding his hand up Yasuo’s shirt to rest on the location of the lotus blossom he had carved. His hand was cold, covering it entirely and beginning to tap out his only increasing heart rate once more. 

He winced at the cold, tilting his head back against Jhin a bit further. The blade followed him, forcing him to keep his throat exposed. 

“I remember making quite a few promises the last time we.. saw each other like this. Shall I follow through? I tend to be a man of my word.” He whispered softly into Yasuo’s ear, running his hand over his torso, grazing over a few sensitive areas. 

Yasuo shuddered at his touch, the cold of Jhin’s hand and the vulnerable feeling of his exposed throat starting to chip into his resolve. 

“What is with you and squirming, _Yasuo?”_ Jhin questioned, purring on his name. He pushed the blade a little deeper into his throat. “Don’t move.”

He made an involuntary sound. Jhin was like acid to his resolve, and he could already feel himself getting hard. 

“Let me ask you one last time before things start getting… worse.. for you.” He grazed his fingernails over his chest, sinking them in to punctuate his next line. “Do you want me to follow through, Yasuo?” 

He wouldn’t give himself over to Jhin so easily, not when he knew how badly he wanted Yasuo to say it. He was still half afraid from the last time something like this happened, he opened his mouth once and he wasn’t able to control the moans and gasps he made from then after. 

Suddenly, the pressure from his throat was lifted, and he heard Jhin slide the blade away from them. It was soon replaced by a cold metal hand, pressing gently against his throat. It was a threat, a symbol of potential power. “Shall we do this the hard way?” 

Never once in his life did Yasuo want to do things the hard way more. To answer his question, he smirked, resisting against Jhin and trying to squirm out of grasp. Yasuo, in addition to being trained in martial arts, had been in his fair share of street fights. But Jhin had gotten such a better position to begin with that he countered any of his futile efforts with ease. He found himself in only a worse position than where he started.

Jhin laughed softly into his ear, his tone dripping with malicious intent and barely held self control. “You quite done?” 

When he didn’t respond, Jhin lifted him off the ground, taking a few steps forward. “My turn,” he purred softly into his ear. 

“ _Fuck.”_ Yasuo hissed softly, another involuntary shiver going across his skin. His voice was so damn hot, and the danger behind it turned him on further. 

Jhin shoved him down onto his bed, forcing him on his back and pinning him down roughly. 

He moaned at the weight Jhin pressed down onto him, looking desperately at the glinting amber eyes staring challengingly back down at him. Although Khada and Jhin were the same person, there was a certain fire Jhin’s eyes held, one of passion and pure will. Those were the very same eyes staring down at him now, like a beast that finally cornered its prey. 

To no surprise, Jhin was just as hard as he was, grinding himself down onto Yasuo tauntingly. He arched his back, greedy for more but Jhin took it away as quickly as he had given it.

Sexual aggression exploded under his skin, frustration sinking into his tone. “Fuck. Why?” He demanded, panting slightly. 

Jhin leaned in close, his amber eyes glinting maliciously. “I’m not giving you anything until you _beg_ for it.” 

“Not a chance,” Yasuo growled, trying to wrestle Jhin over onto his back. He was ready to top Jhin at this point- he didn’t care, as long as he got what he needed. 

However, Jhin was just as strong, if not stronger than Yasuo was, in addition to having a metal arm. This, combined with gravity and sheer will, was enough to keep Yasuo pinned down properly. The frustration from failing to overpower Jhin tied with the teasing motions he would give him far too little of only worked Yasuo up further. He was sexually frustrated and growing exhausted from resisting Jhin. 

The artist was patient, yes, but the patience was waning fast. He was just as sexually frustrated as Yasuo albeit better at hiding it. As his resistances started to die down again, he leaned in for a kiss.

Yasuo froze, blindsided yet again. This was the first time they had kissed, as Jhin always tended to wear the mask, and he had craved it so badly. He stopped his resistance, trying to encourage Jhin to continue, and luckily for him, that was exactly what he did. Yasuo made a sweet noise when Jhin deepened the kiss, wanting to reach out and drag him down further but his arms were still tightly pinned. 

When Jhin broke the kiss, Yasuo felt like something had been stolen from him. He was sick of resisting, he wanted more of it and more of it now. Without letting himself think too hard on it, he sacrificed his pride. “Please Jhin,” he begged, “I _need_ you. I can’t take much more of this teasing, give me what I need.” 

Jhin’s eyes glowed with a triumphant light. “Now _that_ ,” he purred, “is exactly what I wanted to hear.” He leaned down, kissing him passionately one more time, before pulling back and studying him through narrowed eyes. Without hesitating long, he reached down and pulled off Yasuo’s shirt, leaving him and the lotus blossom mark exposed. 

Yasuo, his arms now free, reached up and pulled at Jhin’s shirt. “It’s only fair.” 

He allowed him to pull off his shirt, tossing it to the side as he laid down over Yasuo, pressing his full weight against him. 

Yasuo reached into his hair, pulling him down for another kiss. This one was the deepest, most intense- both of them hungry for the other and it wasn’t long before Yasuo was arching up, trying to coax Jhin into grinding back down into him. They fell into a sweet rhythm, Yasuo unable to stifle the moans coming from deep inside his chest. 

Jhin broke the kiss, panting heavily to the side of his neck. His voice was deep and husky. “You’ve awoken something I cannot resist.” His nails found the lotus blossom he had carved from the first time they truly met and he ripped the healing wound back open, careful not to make any new marks. 

He cried out in shock, gasping as he felt the blood spring up out of the blossom. “Why?”

A possessive glint shone in Jhin’s eyes. “I will _ensure_ it scars.” He slid down lower on Yasuo, observing the blood dripping out of the reopened wound hungrily. “And after all, I do have a promise to keep.” 

Yasuo realized what he was referencing a half a second before he felt Jhin’s tongue pass over the bloodied wound. His tongue was seductively warm, and the constant sensation of the wet pressure over such a sensitive area of his body was enough to make him squirm. 

Jhin wasn’t having any of it, pressing his metal arm against the rest of his torso, ensuring that he stayed as pinned as possible. 

Yasuo threw his head back, his eyes shut as he tried to reign in any control. He quieted his moans as best he could as Jhin slowly started to get bored with the area. The self-control he had worked so hard to build up, however, was immediately lost as he felt Jhin sink his teeth into his neck, sucking a mark into his skin. 

He felt Jhin try to lift back up and he yanked him back down by his hair. “More.” He growled, forcing him down as best as he could with his shaky grasp. 

Jhin smirked into his neck, running his tongue along the length of it and Yasuo gave him the sounds he longed to hear. His own pants were straining tight, and the desire to satisfy his own needs would soon overwhelm him. 

He sucked a few more dark bruises into Yasuo’s neck, purring sweet taunts at him the entire time. 

Yasuo wanted to stay here forever, listening to Jhin’s voice and feeling his weight press down possessively against him. He held onto him, shaking and moaning- Jhin was right there, but he needed _more_ of him. 

Jhin’s moans were deeper and rarer than Yasuo’s, but as his own resolve weathered, they grew more and more frequent. Eventually, the last thread of patience within Jhin snapped, and he pulled down the waist of the pants Yasuo wore, pinning him back down with his offhand. 

Yasuo shuddered with the cold and anticipation- he wanted Jhin so badly that it hurt, but it had been so long since he had been intimate with someone. He was so sensitive to touch and he was likely painfully tight. 

Yasuo felt Jhin’s hand, thankfully the human one, wrap around his length and he felt his hips rise up off the bed. He was clearly being teased, his fingers rubbing across the length of his cock softly, tracing over the veins and the overstimulated skin. _“Jhin,”_ he moaned softly, his hands balled into fists in the sheets beside him. 

Precum dripped heavily off of Yasuo into his hand, and after far too little time, Jhin pulled his hand away, looking down at Yasuo. His eyes were hazy with arousal, and after a moment, he slowly licked the liquid from his hand, keeping eye contact with Yasuo the entire time. 

Yasuo shuddered with arousal, having no idea why it turned him on so heavily. “What the _fuck_ Jhin?” 

Jhin responded with only a breathy laugh, moving both of his hands down to Yasuo’s thighs. He moved them apart slightly, listening to him suck in a breath in anticipation. After a moment, Jhin tentatively ran a tongue from his tip to the base, and Yasuo moaned heavily. He was shaking so badly, but Jhin went slow as ever, teasing him as he dragged minutes into what seemed like hours. 

“Fuck, this is torture. _Please_ , just-” 

The line must have resonated with Jhin intensely, as he dug his nails into Yasuo’s thigh and took him entirely into his mouth. Yasuo moaned loudly, crying out Jhin’s name. He arched his back, grasping onto his hair desperately. It had been so long since he had felt anything like this, and he was unprepared for the sheer intensity. 

Jhin was _so hot_ and _so good_ at what he was doing, Yasuo felt beads of sweat form and drip down his neck as Jhin dragged his tongue over his length, taking him deeper and deeper. It wasn’t very long until Yasuo couldn’t hold himself back from trying to thrust himself further down his throat. Jhin fixed him with a golden glare, pinning his midsection down with his golden arm before continuing. 

The pressure of Jhin’s arm only added to the pressure building throughout his entire body, and he squeezed his eyes shut, nearing the edge. He felt his toes curl as he gripped Jhin’s silky black hair desperately, his heart racing. Just at the edge of his release, Jhin’s hand closed tightly around his base, denying his orgasm. 

Yasuo’s eyes flew open, glaring at Jhin, betrayed. “Fuck. _Why?”_

Jhin pulled back from Yasuo, his voice husky after his throat was abused. “What, you want it to end so soon?” He pulled off the rest of his clothing, slowly pressing his length against Yasuo’s. 

His aggression fell as quickly as it had sprung up as he was coaxed back into Jhin’s seductive trap, feeling him gently slide over his body until they stared face to face once more. 

“You want me to ravage you, leave you pleading,” his eyes narrowed as he looked down into Yasuo’s dark, flustered gaze. “And I intend on doing exactly that- that was simply the first act, the exposition. Your performance is yet to begin.” 

Yasuo sighed heavily. Now that Jhin’s mouth was no longer preoccupied, he was back to whispering seductive taunts to him, watching him shudder longingly at his voice. He was still coming down from a high, not having sex for so long then edging himself was wrecking havoc on his hormones. 

Jhin’s eyes were half lidded, staring longingly down into Yasuo’s hazy ones. “You have a thing for power, don’t you? All of this writhing and wrestling against me, just to test if my strength outdoes yours…” He smirked, reaching his normal hand into Yasuo’s hair, gently running his fingers through it.

He was simultaneously giving Yasuo a chance to recover and building him back up, letting his physical body calm down but purring taunts at him to make sure Yasuo’s excited heart never slowed. 

“I think it’s rather poetic, honestly,” he began, pressing a slower, passionate kiss into Yasuo. He kissed him slowly, rising back up with the same, smooth voice washing over Yasuo. “Such an intimidating warrior figure wanting me to dominate him, to truly put him in his place.” 

Yasuo took another deep breath, his breathing finally steadying. “You’ve always been too observant.” He said softly, running his hands over Jhin’s back, feeling the connection between metal and skin meet at his shoulder blade. 

“I disagree. An artist is only exactly as observant as he needs to be,” Jhin purred, lowering himself back down to his neck. He observed his fine work proudly, the marks he had sucked into his skin already starting to darken. 

“That strength thing goes both ways,” he said, slightly timid. “For next time, maybe.” 

Jhin laughed softly, running a tongue over his neck once more. “Already thinking about the next time and I’m not even close to being finished with you yet.” 

Yasuo moaned softly, growing aware of Jhin’s throbbing length still pressed against his inner thigh as the man in question ran his tongue over each curve and crevice of the neck he offered up to him so willingly. “How do you have such strong self-control?” He asked, a pink flush dusting over his face as he knew if he were in the same situation he would be shaking and begging for release like he had just done so earlier. 

“Simple,” Jhin teased him, smirking into his neck. “I don’t sexually repress myself so hard to where I’m sold to anyone who comes along and touches me.”

“I do _not_.” He replied indignantly. 

“Sure, tell that to the way we first met,” Jhin said, watching the blush darken as he remembered their first interaction. 

“You’re a special case.” 

“Am I now?” Jhin taunted, rolling his hips a bit deeper into him. He had been waiting for Yasuo to recover some, but his patience was drawing thin once again.

“God, yeah.” Yasuo sighed, already falling under the influence of Jhin’s body yet again, perhaps proving his case.

It didn’t take very long for either of them to get desperate for the other’s touch once more. They were locked back into a string of passionate kisses, breaking only for air when they had to.

Jhin ran his hands over Yasuo’s torso, flicking over his overly sensitive nipples and devouring his moans hungrily as they came. Yasuo practically writhed beneath him, his breathing growing more labored by the moment. The temperature difference between Jhin’s freezing metal arm and his warm human one only made the feeling more shocking each time he touched him.

It felt so good to be touched so intimately by someone he cared for so intensely. He ran his hands through Jhin’s hair repeatedly, knowing he was becoming more attached by the second but not caring in the slightest. On the contrary, a desire to protect this man, to ensure that he stayed safe and was never taken from him: not by the law, not by Jackson, not even by death- bubbled up within him. 

As they grew back to the peak intensity, Jhin carefully placed a hand on Yasuo’s inner thigh, pushing him apart some and lifting him up gently. Yasuo watched as the gentler, more passionate light died in eyes, only to be placed by a fiery possessive glow. It seemed as if the more aroused Jhin grew, he would also grow more possessive, losing his seductive, smooth words in favor of an almost aggressive drive. 

Yasuo felt him press against his entrance, and he moaned, feeling his own cock begin to throb with desire. 

As clearly aroused as Jhin was, he waited, sliding his length over his entrance and at times gently pressing into the surface.

“ _Fuck.”_ Yasuo snarled, crossing his legs over Jhin’s hips in an attempt to pull him down into him with his legs. “Enough with the teasing, you’re torturing yourself just as badly as you’re torturing me.” 

Jhin took a deep, shaky breath, holding onto a thread of self-control. “Beg.” 

_“Again_ with this!?” Yasuo cried, jerking him forwards in a stronger attempt to bring Jhin down into him. 

He gave another breathy laugh, pressing both his hands on either side of his hips to prevent them from dragging him deeper once more. “God, you are gorgeous, Yasuo.” He purred, a hint of an emotion that Yasuo couldn’t place just yet. 

He felt himself melt at how sincere Jhin sounded, and how badly he wanted to be with him. “Fine, you win. _Again.”_ He looked Jhin in his eyes once more, falling in love with how his composure was slowly cracking in his gaze, love and lust mixing as he stared back down at Yasuo. “Please, Jhin. I need you now more than I’ve ever needed anything else. Give it to me.” His voice almost cracked on the last note, hating how absolutely genuine he sounded- in part because he was entirely. 

At that, Jhin began to press into him slowly, listening to the musical moans Yasuo gave him. Even he couldn’t keep his composure at this point, his own deep groans complimenting Yasuo’s. 

When he was entirely inside of Yasuo, he lay still, breathing heavily. Unsatisfied, Yasuo jerked up, trying to get Jhin to give him the friction he so desperately needed. 

Jhin let out a startled moan, pressing Yasuo’s hips still. “You’re so tight- let me get used to you or I will not last long,” he said breathlessly, half hunched over his body. 

For a second, he considered repaying the taunting cruelty Jhin had shown him throughout the night by forcing the motion anyway, but he realized he wanted this to last just as badly as he did. 

Slowly but surely, Jhin began to roll his hips deliberately against Yasuo, building up the friction he wanted so badly yet still showing restraint. It felt so, so good- better than he ever remembered, especially when he grinded back up against him, falling into a synchronized rhythm. 

Soon, the pace began to pick up as they grew more and more desperate for the spike of pleasure each thrust of Jhin’s powerful hips would deliver. They both knew that slowing down would drag the process out further but neither of them cared. 

Suddenly, Jhin hit a certain point deep inside of him and he cried out intensely, raking his nails across his back. “ _Jhin!”_ He moaned desperately, locking his legs even tighter around him. “Fuck, I’m not gonna l-last long.” 

Jhin didn’t- or couldn’t- answer besides for his own deep moans, continuing to abuse the most sensitive point inside of Yasuo now that he had found it. They continued in the same motion. Jhin grew rougher as he grew more desperate for him, but he stayed just as passionate, his breath heavy and his eyes dripping with golden lust whenever he looked down at him. His human hand had moved back up to the location where he had carved the lotus blossom seemingly so long ago, but there was no way he was counting out his pounding heart rate here. 

Suddenly, Jhin slammed his body weight against Yasuo, yanking his hair back and pinning him down. “Don’t. Fucking. Move.” He snarled in a voice deeper and more aggressive than he had ever heard from the man. He pushed in as deep as he possibly could, breathing hard as he finished inside of him.

Yasuo had never heard Jhin swear once in his life, or heard his voice so out of control and deep. It was so fucking hot, and that paired with the fact that he could feel him push deeper in and orgasm inside of him was more than enough to push him over the edge as well. He closed his eyes, trying to keep his body as still as possible as stars danced over his vision. 

Jhin lay on top of Yasuo for a minute or two, trying to catch his breath. He panted into the crook of his neck, kissing it gently before trying to pull out of him. Yasuo’s legs prevented the action, as they still held him tight as ever, not wanting to feel empty and alone again. He pressed down against Yasuo’s thigh for a moment until he complied and allowed Jhin to slide out of him. 

Jhin lay down on his back next to him, taking another deep breath. Exhaustion from the collection of hormones pouring into their bloodstreams began to overtake both of them, and Yasuo rolled onto his side to look at Jhin. “Please don’t leave,” Yasuo said, his voice coming out softer and more vulnerable than he had intended on it being. He originally meant to reference the time Jhin had left him tied to a chair after their first encounter, but it came out more ambiguous due to his tone and perhaps due to his true emotion. 

Jhin rolled over and pulled Yasuo close to his chest, holding him tightly. He could feel his heart still skipping, but it was slowing quickly as he slowly began to calm. “I won’t leave,” he promised softly, his golden eyes reflecting an emotion that Yasuo dared not name back at him. 

At this moment, lying exposed in Jhin’s warm arms, he felt more vulnerable and loved than he anticipated he would ever feel in his life again. He sighed, burying his face into his chest and pressing himself closer into his grasp. “I’m starting to not know what to do without you, Jhin.”

He looked down at him with troubled amber eyes, saying nothing as he stroked through Yasuo’s hair.

“If I was able to spend the rest of my life with someone as clever and caring as you are I may truly find the happiness I didn’t think was possible for me.” 

Jhin shook his head, sighing softly. “You could find better.” 

Yasuo ignored him, pulling him tighter as he exposed himself further. “I spent most of my life on the run, believing no one would ever love me once they discovered my past and the collection of skeletons in my closet.” He looked up at Jhin with emotion clouding over the surface of his warm brown eyes. “But you… You’re Ionian, and you know my past. I was supposed to meet a justified fate for what I’ve done, but you saved me. Not only that, you put your life on the line to get me medical treatment. I.. didn’t deserve any of that. I don’t understand why you would…” Yasuo trailed off, his voice catching in his throat. 

Jhin picked him up and rolled onto his back, placing Yasuo on the center of his chest. “You are not a bad person, Yasuo. Coming from the mouth of an actual bad person. You spent your entire life guilty over what you did, and I am sure no one besides yourself really knows the true story. Whatever it is, it does not matter. You have atoned for your actions every single day that you have felt guilty since that time.” 

Yasuo laid down on his chest, feeling a bit lightheaded as he wrapped his arms around him. 

“It is rare for me to meet such a protective, caring person such as yourself who views themselves as so loathsome. I had heard of you many times in the past and seen you in multiple different connotations, but nothing could have prepared me for how you truly are. You were so worn down, yet so caring. So clever and attractive.. It was impossible for me not to get drawn to you.” 

Jhin sighed, running his hands over his back gently as he paused to think.

“And now, here I am, having risked my life, my identity, and everything I have worked for thus far due to this attraction.” He fixed him with a serious golden stare. “And I do not regret a single moment of it, besides perhaps making the teeth of my trap a bit too vicious.” He smiled gently at Yasuo. 

Yasuo was too tired to cry, but the words hit closer to home than Jhin could have guessed. “I didn’t think I would ever hear anything like that in my life,” he confessed. “I thought that I could get close to the ones I cared about by protecting them, that I wasn’t deserving or destined for love.” He sighed tiredly. “But I wasn’t as good at protecting people as I hoped to be.”

Jhin’s hands moved up to run gently over Yasuo’s scalp, intertwining in his silky hair. “Some people cannot be saved, no matter how desperately we try. Perhaps you should try the other action rather than protecting me.” 

The confession hung in the air between them, waiting to be embraced. Yasuo was the one who was brave enough to reach out towards it. 

“Maybe I’ll give it one last shot,” Yasuo said, breathing very deeply. He looked him in the eyes as he said his next phrase carefully. 

“I love you, Jhin.” 

It was true that Yasuo didn’t know Jhin very well, and hadn’t for very long. It was true that in every scope of the law, Jhin was a criminal destined for conviction and execution. It was true that in every moral compass, Jhin should be considered a bad person. However, that didn’t change the fact that he had risked his life for Yasuo despite knowing that he was a guilty man deserving of a justified fate. He didn’t hesitate to put absolute trust in Yasuo when they barely knew each other just so that he could get the medical attention he needed. So many times Jhin had risked everything for him, and now, Yasuo was ready to risk something back. Jhin was the man that he thought he would never meet, the man that drew him in and kept him on his toes. He was the man that convinced the eternally Unforgiven man to give love one last shot, despite everything else and everything Jhin knew about him. Maybe, just maybe, Yasuo could find something at his side other than death and the wind alone. 

Jhin looked taken aback at the phrase, searching Yasuo’s expression for a hint of dishonesty, but found none. “That is a phrase I never thought I would hear.” He breathed deeply, drawing Yasuo even deeper into his arms. “I never thought I was capable of growing so attached to someone. The only thing I cared for was my work and my art. But the second I laid eyes on you, there was something different. Someone who could understand me, who I could care for and trust and match stride for stride. And now here I am, putting everything at risk without an ounce of regret. I find myself so, so much happier this way.” 

“I love you too, Yasuo. At this point, I find myself willing to do anything- to RISK anything for you.” 

Yasuo knew how heavy that phrase was, especially coming from Jhin. It could have all sorts of implications, but he didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere they had built up with further questioning. Instead, he opted to reach up and kiss him softly on the lips.

He sighed softly- _lovingly-_ and kissed him back gently. They spent a few more minutes like this, curled in one another’s arms as exhaustion slowly overtook them both. 

Yasuo fell asleep first, curled in Jhin’s arms as he held softly onto his hair, perhaps ensuring he would stay true to his promise of not leaving this time. Luckily for him, Jhin had every intention of keeping his word as they drifted off together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIRST 10K CHAPTER!! and first truly explicit one at that... 
> 
> *pulls out massive list* thank you SO much to commenters like nymeriastarks, MapleLokidottir, nina1827, Zelard, melancholyGoggles, and so many more people also commenting and leaving kudos <3 it means so much to me and is the reason i was able to write 10,000 words on my day off for you guys :'D i hope you guys enjoyed!


	8. Chapter 8

Yasuo had never agreed with the phrase “time heals all wounds.”

In fact, time was the very thing that ripped the tiny tear in his heart into a gaping void. It was what made the days long and painful, each step one where he walked further away from his brother, his instructor, his family, his true home: where he was  _ Yasuo,  _ not just someone who carried the name. 

Time was a bitter, vengeful creature. One that tore him away from the seconds he had spent in Ionia, in his home. It was what inevitably claimed the moments he enjoyed with others and the people he loved. Time was hateful, unreasonable, and all-consuming.

Time was inevitable. As it rushed towards the day where Jhin made his fatal error, finding himself caught, imprisoned, and executed, it also rushed towards the day where Yasuo’s past would be revealed, where the sins of his past would catch up to him and expose him as the cowardly traitor he had always been. 

Time had given him something sweet last night but had ripped it away when Yasuo finally wrapped it in his grasp. It was time that caused Jhin to leave far too early in the morning, telling him that he still had to attend work, that he couldn’t allow suspicions between the two to create fatal connections. 

It was because of time that he lay there alone, even hours after Jhin had left, swearing he could hear the ticking as the days crept closer to Worlds, to his future, and further away from the past he wished he could return to. 

Eventually, Yasuo was able to force himself up. He couldn’t lie down pining for the entire day, there was far too much work to be done only a few days before Worlds. If Jhin was able to shock himself awake many hours earlier, then Yasuo was able to do so as well. 

He rolled out of bed, stumbling over to the bathroom. A dull throb of pain had reemerged in his leg, and he figured it was time to take the medicine for his calf. He resigned to doing it, alongside his stretches, after he took a shower. 

As he waited for the water to heat, he caught a glimpse of the dark bruises Jhin had sucked into his neck the night prior, and groaned. His experience in the music and the modeling industry had introduced him to things such as concealer and foundation, which took far too long and were far too tedious to apply for his taste but always shown through in situations such as these. He would have to apply some to his neck before he went out unless he wanted to sign himself up for a  _ very  _ awkward conversation with Akali. 

After he showered, he went through the lovely process of trying to determine if concealer or foundation went first, then realizing he had to apply primer first, and wondering if he had chosen the wrong skin tones from the complimentary makeup set underneath the vanity. It took both an embarrassingly long amount of time and YouTube videos made by girls far younger than he was before he was able to produce a passable result. It would be fine as long as no one looked too closely- he was  _ not  _ about to get into the color theory of applying the opposite color to the bruise so it would cancel better. Evening it all out then wearing a turtleneck would be fine. 

While he was walking over to his dresser, his phone buzzed and he looked down at it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Jackson griping at him through his work phone, but rather Evelynn texting him through his normal phone about a mandatory practice. She hadn’t specified a start or end time, just “ASAP” so he figured it may be more than just a few hours. Rightfully so, with the supposed start of Worlds just a few days away. 

He pulled out a black turtleneck and a dark gray blazer. It was fancier than he usually wore, but hopefully, it would cover up what he needed to. After pulling on that and dark gray pants, he quickly took his meds for the day and ran through his stretches in a sloppier form than the nurse would have liked him to do. He brushed his hair, tying it back into a ponytail then secured his katana at his side and slipped out the door. 

The pain relievers kicked in during his walk, and in just a few minutes his legs felt normal once again. It was only around 11, but something told him that Evelynn had been getting the group together and prepared for hours beforehand. He couldn’t exactly show the same level of commitment, but at least he would show up relatively on time for once. 

Dylan was on the phone when Yasuo walked through the doorway, so he only gave him a quiet nod and gestured to the studio door before turning away again. He pushed open the unlocked door, and to no surprise, all of the girls were there long before he was. 

Ahri looked up at the noise. “Not a jacket and jeans? What’s the occasion?” 

He smirked at her jab towards his typical fashion choice. “What, can a man not dress up for once?” 

Akali stepped out in front of him, pulling on the lapel of his blazer. “You DO look good- surely this can’t all be for us?” She grinned mischievously. “Going somewhere after this?” 

Yasuo groaned. “Don’t you even start with that.” 

“I was in the middle of placing an order to get me and Evelynn coffee,” Kai’sa called out to him. “Do you want anything?” 

He shook his head, catching sight of a streak of blue out of the corner of his eyes. His eyes then focused in on Seraphine and her now-brilliant blue hair, and he walked up to her. “Wow, that looks incredible. They did all that in one session?” 

She turned around, startled as she slipped off her headphones. “Oh, Yasuo! I didn’t hear you come in. They did a really good job!” She grabbed the end of her ponytail, holding it up for him to inspect. “Feel it! She put on some type of conditioner that made it really silky, usually my hair feels dead for a few days after I dye it, but not here!” 

He felt the end of her hair awkwardly. What she said WAS true, but he wasn’t sure how comfortable he was touching someone else’s hair. 

Seraphine’s eyes sparkled. “I’m coming with you when you get your hair dyed! Are you doing it today or tomorrow?” 

“Oh, uh…” Yasuo had forgotten the last part of his contract with AAPE. He would have to get his hair dyed back to white for the Worlds ALL/OUT performance. It was a bit too flashy for his taste, but he much preferred it over a color like blue. “Probably tomorrow. I’ll let you know.” 

“Alright! Don’t put it off for too long!” 

Evelynn’s voice rang out clearly over the excited buzz of conversation. “Now that everyone’s  _ finally  _ here,” she said, her yellow gaze sliding over to him, “I want everyone to start getting warmed up. We’ll get together as a group in 15.” 

Yasuo sighed. Eve was in the same mood as always, he supposed. The best thing he could do was to listen to what she said, so he said goodbye to Seraphine and found his way to his musical setup. It had been powered on for him already, the electricity surging hungrily through each key, ready to send a powerful note out into the open. 

He sat down before it, slowly letting the lights and the electronic buzzing wash over him as he debated what to play. Instead of a typical ALL/OUT song, he opted to play one of his old favorites:  _ GIANTS,  _ the song that had started him on his rise to fame just over a year ago. His hands flicked over the soundboard, settling on the familiar keys that would allow him to begin the chorus of the song. 

As he played, Akali spiked up at the familiar song, walking over to him excitedly. “Play my rap segment next- it’ll help us both warm up.” 

Yasuo gave a silent nod, seamlessly transitioning over to Akali’s rap segment. She joined in at the perfect moment with ease, having remembered each and every word and where each beat fell in immaculately. As he played, his mind drifted over to the other band members he had once worked with: Ekko, Senna, Qiyana- he wondered how they were doing, and if they too would tune into his Worlds performance. 

As Akali finished her segment, Seraphine cheered excitedly. “That was amazing! I’ve never heard  _ GIANTS  _ performed live, you two are incredible!” 

Akali threw an arm over his shoulder. “I know, right? We definitely deserve more credit.” She laughed, looking back over at him. 

“I could do without it.” Yasuo confessed, smiling back at her.

Suddenly, the door to the studio slid open, and an awkward-looking assistant stepped in, holding two coffees. His heart sank slightly, it wasn’t the assistant he was hoping to see when Kai’sa mentioned she was placing the order, but it didn’t  _ really  _ bother him. Did it?

Akali slid down towards his ear. “Is Khada okay? He looked really,  _ really  _ stressed this morning. I think I asked him a question three times before he processed it, and I haven’t seen him since.” 

Yasuo frowned. When Jhin had left, he seemed to be as normal as the man ever tended to be. Did he miss something in his fatigued state when the man left? He racked his brain, but he couldn’t remember anything that would tip off that Jhin was feeling any different, much less stressed over something. He would have to ask him the next time he saw him. “He was perfectly fine the last time I saw him.” 

“It’s not like him to be stressed.” 

Yasuo nodded in silent agreement, watching the younger stagehand slip back out the door. What could be stressing Jhin out so badly? Was Jackson about to call and report another Golden Demon murder? 

“Alright, everyone get ready!” Evelynn called out, taking a sip of her well-deserved coffee. “We’ll start with each song vocals-only, then add the choreography in later.” 

Yasuo sighed as Akali moved away. The only thing he could do now was move it to the back of his mind and put his full focus towards one of their last practices before Worlds. After all, there was nothing he could do about it now. 

They decided to work on MORE first, as it was the most important song of the group, and then practice their individual songs later. It went smoothly, however here and there Yasuo’s finger would slip and he would curse to himself as the wrong note played, but there were no real errors. In the first few runs of the song Seraphine stuttered on her solo, and Akali choked over the rap segment, but after just a few sessions the song was as shiny and prepared for Worlds as it ever had been. He just hoped that all of this practicing would actually pay off. 

When the group moved over to the dance room, he let the prerecorded version of MORE play over and over as needed while Kai’sa scrutinized each step of the dance routine. From his untrained eyes, it looked flawless, but a dancer like Kai’sa could see a slightly out of place foot or the improper flow of an arm. 

His fingers were a bit sore so he had given them a break while the girls focused on choreography. It was hard to stay motivated when he knew that everything they had worked for up to this could be snatched away at a moment's notice. If Worlds was canceled it would sting, and Yasuo had days prior to adjust to the information. He couldn’t imagine how heartbroken the girls would be if they learned it just days before their performance, not to mention the dedicated superfans. 

Luckily, before he could fall into a guilty spiral of an internal obligation to turn in Jhin and save Worlds, Kai’sa approved the choreography and they moved on to individual songs. They started with Kai’sa own personal song,  _ DRUM GO DUM,  _ as she had titled it. It was a fairly simple song for Yasuo to play, and they didn’t spend a lot of time on it due to how well Kai’sa knew her own choreography. 

The next song was  _ Villain _ , and it was one of Yasuo’s favorite songs to play. He loved the darker sounding tones of the song, but it now reminded him of the situation that Jhin and Evelynn seemed to share. She was so clearly part of a dark underside and unrepentant of it, so much so that she made a song highlighting some of the shadier actions in her history that would be broadcast to millions of people. Yet a man like Jhin could face even execution with similar crimes. 

He tried not to think too deeply into it, or else he would lose focus and Evelynn tended to get snappy when he played her parts wrong. Instead, he listened to her rich, full voice as it perfectly complemented the villainous undertones of the notes he played. He could say what he wanted to about Evelynn, and although they never seemed to get along, she was incredibly talented and perhaps the hardest working in the group. 

The next few hours passed by quickly, a feeling of hope beginning to settle over the room. Everything was going incredibly smoothly, and their work was paying off. Yasuo played the correct notes with ease, the choreography sailed perfectly from song to song, their voices rose and fell at the right time with the right tempo. They were taking another break so that their voices wouldn’t wear out by the time Worlds rolled around, and the energy was high and electrifying. 

However, Yasuo felt a cold chill crack through the positivity he had let himself sink into as Jackson himself pushed open the door to the studio with a solemn expression on his face. He hadn’t called him ahead of time as he usually did, so even he was caught off guard. A moment later, Brandon and one other security agent filed into the room. 

Jackson’s gaze swept around the room, settling on Yasuo. “Good, everyone’s here.” He began seriously. “I apologize for intruding, but I caught wind of your plans to practice today and thought it would be best if I told this to everyone in person.” 

Yasuo’s heart sank. He had a feeling what this discussion would be about, but he wished it didn’t have to be so soon, not when everyone’s hopes were so high. 

“The past week, Yasuo has been putting his life on the line for the safety of K/DA and everyone attending the Worlds performance.” 

Yasuo cringed. He wished Jackson hadn’t started with that line, as he could feel the heat of each member’s stare immediately jump to him. He swallowed nervously, not daring to look around the room and confront any of the questioning looks. 

“A serial killer known as the “Golden Demon” has sprung up around Shanghai, and we have been investigating it and the murders for quite some time. Yasuo has made more progress with the case than many professional investigators, and he has even come face to face with the murderer himself.” 

At this, Seraphine gasped while the others in the room looked stricken.

“A  _ serial killer? _ ” Evelynn hissed, astounded. 

Jackson nodded solemnly. “During his face-to-face interaction with the Golden Demon, he sustained a terrible injury to his leg, which is largely what contributed to him not being able to properly fight back when he was mugged a few days ago.” 

“I did think that was a little odd…” Kai’sa said thoughtfully. 

“We have had teams working overtime trying to find the Golden Demon, and put a stop to his killing spree. We know he somehow has inside information, the depth of we do not know. We fear that a culminating event will happen at Worlds.” Jackson paused for a long while, unable to make eye contact with any of the girls. “We have exhausted every resource we have and have gotten nowhere. If we are unable to locate and detain the Golden Demon within the next day or two… It is my legal and moral duty as the head of security to cancel the live Worlds event for this year.” 

Firing a gunshot into the room would have caused less tension than the statement generated. It was painful to simply stand in the room, much less be the one delivering the message. 

“You  _ can’t, _ ” Akali said, taking a step forward. “Not when we’ve sunk in so much time, money, and effort. It will be the death of not only everything we’ve worked for but also our careers.” 

Seraphine sniffled softly in the corner of the room, reaching up to wipe the tears forming in the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand. 

“I’d rather have the death of all our careers than our literal deaths,” Jackson said solemnly, spreading his arms helplessly. 

Bitter tasting guilt spread through Yasuo’s entire body. He had already grappled with the thought of his moral obligation to turn in the Golden Demon for days, but being in this situation, surrounded by the misery and shock of everyone in the room made it so much worse. 

Evelynn stepped forwards, her perfectly manicured nails balled into fists. “All of this work, all of this money, and you have  _ nothing?  _ No suspect, no conclusion? Hell, you said Yasuo met the murderer face to face. What happened?” 

“Well,” Brandon cut in, shooting a glance over at Yasuo, “we  _ do  _ have a suspect.” 

“Who has very little basis and time and time again has proved the opposite. They do not need to hear of this, Brandon.” Jackson said, irritation sparking into his voice. 

“Is there any way we can save Worlds?” Ahri asked, her eyes clouded and distant. 

“Tonight, we will bring in our prime suspect for questioning. If he is found guilty, he will be detained and Worlds will go on.” Brandon said, his gaze triumphant as he stared Yasuo down. 

Yasuo gave a jolt as he processed what Brandon said. Besides telling the K/DA girls of the situation, that was likely the main reason they had tracked him down at the studio. He was going to be detained and questioned like a criminal. He just hoped that they wouldn’t make a scene of it, not in front of his bandmates. 

“However,” Jackson snapped, cutting Brandon off once more, “I can tell you right now this ‘prime suspect’ will be found innocent within an hour. What truly needs to happen within the next day is to find decisive evidence, such as catching the Golden Demon in the act, so that he may be detained while Worlds is ongoing and then brought for a legal trial soon after. This is the ONLY way it would be safe enough for both you and your fans to meet live for Worlds.” 

Evelynn’s eyes glittered dangerously. “You fight on too moral of a plain with people like these. You need to sink down to their level to be able to truly catch them.” 

Jackson looked over at her warningly. “We didn’t want any of you to get involved. We used Yasuo as a last resort, and although he has proven to be useful, he did end up getting injured on a job he wasn’t qualified for.” 

“I am not going to sit by and let some common killer take away everything I have worked for.” Evelynn threatened, her voice rising dangerously. Akali walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. 

“We are going to extend all of our resources one last time tomorrow. If we find nothing by tomorrow evening, we will make a public announcement canceling Worlds. There is nothing else we can do, the bottom line is that your safety and the fan’s safety will always go before anything else.” 

Evelynn opened her mouth like she had something to say on it, but was interrupted by a sudden outbreak of commotion coming from the lobby. Brandon and Jackson whipped around, startled. Yasuo didn’t have a good view of what was going on, but he could see that one of the agents had drawn their gun and pointed it towards a figure standing in the middle of the lobby. 

Yasuo stood up, drawing his katana, putting himself between the doorway and the rest of K/DA. He managed to shoulder his way past Jackson, despite his warnings and found his way into the heat of the situation. 

The three security agents who had stayed behind the guard at the entrance when Brandon and Jackson had come to arrest Yasuo and brief the girls on the situation for the next 24 hours had their guns trained on a figure in the center of the room. The only reason they weren’t shooting him down was that he had Dylan locked in a chokehold, a gun pointing to his head as they crouched in the center of the room. 

Yasuo took a step forward, katana pointed out so that he may cut down anyone who made an aggressive lunge towards him or the K/DA members standing just behind the door. He scanned his opponent, wonder who was stupid enough to try and attack the K/DA studio despite how highly secure it was. 

His opponent wore an elaborate outfit of blood red and dark purple. Collections of runes were gathered around the golden edges of his clothing, and he wore a white, expressionless mask with two demonic horns twisting up to the sky. At his shoulder, the fur of some type of purple and red animal lay draped over the side, where a single golden arm lay wrapped around the throat of his victim. 

“Oh my God.” Yasuo unintentionally lowered his katana, the weight of the weapon feeling sickeningly heavy in his hand. He stared at the man in the mask, shock settling in as he slowly processed what he feared worse. This was a more elaborate outfit than he had ever seen, but the gold accents paired with the golden arm gave it away. What on Earth was Jhin doing here, in this manner? It was suicide if Yasuo had ever seen it. 

Yasuo caught a glimpse of a golden eye staring him down, and he watched as Jhin drew in one deep, final breath. 

“Do not think that you can hide your plans from me!” Jhin suddenly declared, dramatic as ever. Yasuo now understood why he had opted for the change in outfit- this mask lay a voice changer over him, a wise move that would still seal his identity from someone who had spent more time with him as Khada, such as a member of K/DA. “Cancelling Worlds will not prevent me from my culminating performance, the final act I have spent too long planning for it to be snatched away from me.” 

Yasuo fixed him with a searching glare. Something didn’t fold over properly; something wasn’t right. He didn’t think that Jhin had any interest in the actual members of K/DA, or of the Worlds performance itself. If he was planning something flashy, he wouldn’t do anything impulsive like this- he would wait days planning the perfect opportunity to strike. In addition, the plan of canceling Worlds was nothing new. Yasuo knew he had deeper access to some of the security agency’s secrets, so why was he reacting to it now, in this sloppy, inelegant fashion? 

He racked his mind quickly, trying to search for what he was missing, what had made Jhin act out so uncharacteristically like this. His heart was pounding in his chest as he ran through so many conclusions, each less likely than the next. Until, a dawning realization struck him, and he had to prevent himself from staggering at its impact. 

Cancelling Worlds was nothing new, and something Jhin likely didn’t care much about. However, a new piece of information that even Yasuo was blindsided by was the fact that he, as the prime suspect, was to be arrested and brought in for questioning. Jhin had somehow discovered this fact, and perhaps overestimated the severity of it all. So here he was, allowing himself to get captured so Yasuo was cleared of suspicion and so that his career could continue.

“You can’t do this…” He said, realization dawning in his tone. He saw Jhin straighten triumphantly. 

“Oh, but I can, swordsman,” He pressed the gun, the same one he had threatened Yasuo with not too long ago, closer towards Dylan. “I want one of the K/DA girls to come with me within the next four minutes, or he will be the first to die here. Do not test me.” 

There was no purpose, no meaning, to anything Jhin was doing here. If he wanted to capture one of the K/DA girls, he had multiple one on one opportunities with them as Khada. This was a show, an act, and everyone here was dancing in it. 

Jackson leaped forwards towards Yasuo, putting a hand on his shoulder and pulling him to the side. “Is this.. Can you confirm that this is the Golden Demon?” 

Yasuo looked back at the masked man, feeling his gaze sear into his skull.  _ Do it, Yasuo.  _ Jhin’s wordless stare seemed to say.  _ Make my sacrifice worth it.  _

He swallowed nervously, a bitter taste thick in his mouth. “Yes.” He said, hating the note of finality that rose over his voice. “This is the Golden Demon.” 

Jackson straightened silently, a seriousness masking any other emotion that whisked across his face. He turned the Golden Demon, taking a pace forward. 

However, Jhin’s eyes never left Yasuo. It was almost as if it were impossible for him to do so. “Three minutes. How’s that leg of yours, Yasuo?” He taunted. 

“Golden Demon,” Jackson said, projecting his voice intimidatingly as he could. “You are hereby under arrest for multiple counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, infliction of bodily harm, hostage-taking, possession of a deadly weapon, and breaching secure data. You will have the right to a trial, but do not resist arrest now. Surrender the hostage and your weapon immediately.” 

“That’s a long list,” Jhin purred. “Why not add one more?” 

Yasuo could  _ hear  _ the bittersweet smirk in his tone, and it made his heart ache. Here he was, putting his life on the line for Yasuo yet again while he stood by and could do nothing to return the favor. This time, however, he believed he had dug himself in too deep to get out of it all. 

He took another step towards Jhin, his katana raised back at the offensive level it should be. “Let the hostage go.” 

At the very same moment, Jhin snapped his gun away from Dylan's temple and lifted his human arm out towards Yasuo, the barrel of the gun glinting cruelly in his direction. “Stay back, swordsman. Two minutes.” 

“Gonna shoot me, Demon?” Yasuo muttered darkly, staring him back down unflinchingly. 

“Step closer and find out,” Jhin said, a single golden eye staring back at him.

Their voices were tense, but Yasuo could see Jhin’s bluff in the subtle way his hands shook when handling the gun that he was so sure with, the gun that had been with him for so long and that had taken so many lives. Yasuo knew that he wouldn’t ever hurt him, but the watching security agency couldn’t see through the mist. 

Jhin had done his part, and as much as he loathed his plan, Yasuo was a part of it. He would either help him execute the finale of it all, or all of it would be put to waste. There was a reason Jhin chose to do something as reckless as threaten him with his human arm, and he needed to take advantage of it within the next two minutes. He knew what he needed to do, but why was he so paralyzed with it? 

“One minute.” Jhin reminded him, golden eyes glittering from behind the mask.

He took a deep breath, and lunged forwards out of nowhere, slashing his katana across Jhin’s forearm. At the last moment Yasuo dived towards him, Jhin tilted the barrel of the gun clear from him and pulled the trigger, making it look like he tried to strike down Yasuo but fired an unlucky shot. As his arm was cut open, he dropped the gun, allowing all of the surrounding security agents to descend down on him. 

Someone in the next room over had screamed at the gunshot, but Yasuo didn’t care. He stood there, panting as they dragged the Golden Demon away, unable to process the exchange that had lasted just a few minutes. 

He picked up the gun, his ears ringing and inspected the elegant golden trim that curved around the deadly weapon. He stared down at it, unable to think about how Jhin had sacrificed himself. It had all happened too quickly and he was still reeling from the force of it all. 

Jackson was shaking as well but was able to process what had happened much faster than Yasuo could ever dream to. He turned to Brandon, spitting with rage. “Was  _ that  _ enough to prove to you Yasuo isn’t a serial killer, or do you still need to bring him in for questioning?” 

Brandon crossed his arms, his pride injured, and walked briskly out the door to oversee the arrest of the Golden Demon. Yasuo was vaguely aware of what was going on, but none of it felt real, as if he was watching it all play out from very far away. 

“Yasuo? Yasuo!” 

He wasn’t sure when Jackson had walked over to him, wasn’t he just yelling at Brandon a moment ago? He fixed him with a faraway stare. 

“Are you okay? Did he graze you?” 

“I’m fine…” Yasuo mumbled, his chest constricting as the reality of the situation began to sink in. 

“I can’t believe you just did that. Thank you so much Yasuo, we all owe everything to you.” He paused, a moment passing without a response. “Can I take the deadly weapon off your hands? We will need it as part of the investigation.” 

For a fleeting moment, he considered denying him. It was the one thing tied to Jhin he had left, and he didn’t want to just hand it over without a struggle. But, he knew what the logical thing to do was, and he didn’t want to waste the sacrifice made for him, so he nodded and allowed the Head of Security to remove the gun from his hands. 

“Are you sure you’re alright? Is there anything I can do for you right now?”

Yasuo shook his head. “I just need.. To sit down a bit..” He managed, turning away from Jackson to walk back into the studio room. 

Relief broke through the thick tension as Yasuo walked through the door the K/DA members were kept behind entirely unharmed. They all rushed over to him, Seraphine and Akali asking if he was unharmed and Evelynn asking for the details of who he was and the situation. He wasn’t truly able to process all of their questions at once, giving poor details at best until Kai’sa and Evelynn broke away to go find some answers elsewhere. 

“Thank you, Yasuo,” Ahri said, her tone clear and appreciative, “I didn’t realize the extent of danger you were putting yourself in for us, but I am so glad you were able to bring him to justice and save all of our work.” 

Yasuo nodded tiredly as she too moved off. Akali swept up next to him and put an arm over his shoulders. “Are you alright? I couldn’t see too much from my angle, but it looked pretty bad.” 

“I’m fine, I just need… a moment.. to process it,” Yasuo choked out, trying to keep it together. Being stunned from an encounter like that was one thing, breaking down over it was another. 

Seraphine nodded. “I understand. Come on, let’s give him some space.” 

And with that, the comforting weight of Akali’s arm was gone and he slid down to bury his face in his hands. What impulse decision had Jhin made to get them both tied up in such a seemingly hopeless situation? 

And how were they ever going to get out of it? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I was sick and I can't write well when I'm sick. But, we're back with a burning passion to finish out the rest of this fic :) 
> 
> I made a Twitter to interact with you guys, show WIPs, ask who I should write for my next pairing, and talk about League. If you're interested, its @CrowsQuillAO3 
> 
> As always, thank you to commenters such as nymeriastarks, MapleLokidottir, nina1827, Igkee, Seungyoon, and so many more! I was reading over all your lovely messages while I was sick and it really made me excited to get back to writing <3


	9. Chapter 9

The next few days passed in a blur. Yasuo wasn’t upset, or grieving, or devastated.. He just felt mechanical. It took too much energy to keep thoughts in his head, and so much of the day felt empty- he couldn’t remember something if it happened 5 minutes ago, and he spent most of his time sleeping. 

The other members of K/DA were celebrating- they had come so close to sacrificing their hard work and their careers, and the murderer who had put them in danger was going to be brought to justice. They invited Yasuo out more than once, but he stiffly denied the invitation the first few times, and then simply stopped responding. 

Jackson had tried to talk to him a few times over the last two days as well- questioning him about the Golden Demon, and then simply just trying to make sure he was alright. Yasuo was sure that he chalked his strange behavior and his isolation due to shock, or trauma, but he would never be able to guess the real reason.

Jhin was the most idiotic genius he had ever seen. Yasuo knew he had access to the security agency’s information, but he hadn’t anticipated how harshly Jhin would perceive Yasuo being the lead suspect. He had impulsively jumped into action, not stopping to consult with Yasuo beforehand. It was a genius plan- simultaneously clearing Yasuo of all suspicion while saving worlds, however, it would most certainly end in Jhin’s death. Khada was no idiot- he knew this, yet he made no hesitation. 

Yasuo groaned, turning onto the other side of the empty bed. Jhin was courageous and intelligent to a fault- why would he go and get himself killed? Worlds did not matter as much as his life did, Yasuo’s record did not matter as much as his life did, so why? What had gone through his logical mind to jump to such an illogical course of action? 

There was one thing that Yasuo did remember from his dissociative state over the last few days- due to Worlds, Jackson had made the decision to wait until the conclusion of the event to relocate the serial killer: he needed all staff on-site for the members of K/DA, and as long as the Golden Demon stayed in a non-contact highly secure cell, he could wait a few days before being transferred, unmasked, put to trial and inevitably executed. 

In other words, Jhin wasn’t dead yet. This was the phrase that echoed in Yasuo’s mind over the course of the last few days, the words hitching bitterly on  _ “yet”  _ each time. 

The familiar vibration of his work phone sounded on his dreary nightstand, and Yasuo opened his eyes a sliver, peering over at the time-11:24am, now displayed on its screen. Jackson’s name was centered and demanding, yet he still felt the temptation to roll over and ignore it entirely. 

However, he still found himself tiredly reaching out towards the phone, answering the call with a blunt sounding “Hello.”

Jackson’s voice came across clearly on the other end. He made no attempt at small talk, and Yasuo was grateful. “It’s today.” 

At this, Yasuo jolted awake. The past few days had moved simultaneously in a blur and far too slow, and he hadn’t realized Worlds would be so soon, even when it was only a few days away. “Oh.” He managed, staring up at the ceiling.

“Yeah,” Jackson said simply. “How are you feeling? You’ve been pretty much off the grid the past few days, and we’re starting to wonder if we should schedule a prerecorded audio track rather than having you play live.” 

Yasuo swallowed nervously. There was nothing he’d rather do less than drag himself out of bed for the first time in days in order to perform live for millions of people. He felt miserable, he was likely out of practice, but… He couldn’t let part of Jhin’s sacrifice go to waste. Jhin had saved his life and his career, so he had no right to go on destroying it anyway. Plus, he knew the members of K/DA were relying on him and he couldn’t just let their hard work get diminished on his behalf. 

“No…” he finally rasped out, closing his eyes once more. “I’ll be over in a few. I’m alright,” he said, as if he had the ability to speak a lie into reality. 

Jackson was silent for a moment. “I don’t want to force you into anything…”

“Buuut you need me?” 

Jackson sighed. “I’ll see you in a bit.” 

The beeping of a cut line signaled all it needed to. It was time for Yasuo to drag himself out of bed, whether he wanted to or not. As he stood up, his hair fell down across his shoulder, and the stark white of it startled him for a moment until he remembered Seraphine dragging him to the hair salon to dye his hair white and fulfill his AAPE contract. 

The entire experience was a blur, Yasuo could barely remember it even if it happened yesterday- or was it the day before? He was pretty sure Seraphine was there with him, or perhaps it was Akali? He just knew he was very tired and very ready to go home the moment he arrived and they started roughly grabbing at his hair. 

A spark of pain shot up in his chest as his mind drifted to wondering if Jhin would like the pure white color, or if he’d prefer the rich dark brown of his natural hair. It was unfathomable that he may never get the chance to say goodbye to the man who had saved his life, the man he loved. 

He got ready mechanically, forcing himself to focus on each step of getting ready one painful moment at a time. Wash face. Check. Brush teeth. Check. Brush hair. Check. 

Eventually, after an almost embarrassing amount of time, he had pulled himself together enough to look presentable. They would probably force him to change into the AAPE outfit later on for the performance, but his current outfit of some joggers and a dragon hoodie was enough to face other members of society with. 

He knew that the only way he would make it through the next 24 hours was to keep Jhin out of his mind entirely, but that didn’t seem possible in the slightest, especially when compared to the last few days. However, he had no choice but to try- he didn’t want to share his misery with those around him, and he also knew how easily his music would pick up on his emotions.

He made the familiar journey to the practice studio, trying to distract himself. He tried to focus on the plump crow sitting on the power line, the neon sign with just one letter burnt out, the carrying conversations by cheerful strangers, the crisp air that froze before him as he took each breath- he tried to tell himself it was working, but he knew deep down he was lying to himself. 

Eventually, after a painfully long walk, he found himself standing in front of the studio. This time, however, the doors were under the watchful eye of many intimidating looking guards, who sized him up with long, disdainful looks before letting him in. He put his hands in his jacket pockets as he walked in awkwardly, trying to keep them from fidgeting as he prepared to confront K/DA and Jackson after an uncomfortable few days. 

He walked towards the room they typically practiced in, but an unfamiliar secretary stopped him. 

“They switched rooms,” They said, gesturing over to a different door on the right side of the room. “Safety precaution.” 

He wasn’t quite sure how moving a few rooms down would keep anyone safer, but what could he say? It was typical security theatre, what mattered was that they could still practice before Worlds. 

He nodded politely and changed course, taking a deep breath before slowly pushing open the heavy wooden door. A wave of immediate tension washed over him as he entered, made up of anxiety over Worlds and fear from the recent attack. Everyone’s eyes jumped immediately over to him as he looked away awkwardly. 

“Yasuo…!” Seraphine chirped in her typical fashion, although it seemed so much less energetic and driven than it usually was.

“Hello,” he said quietly. “Sorry I’m late.” 

“You feeling any better?” Kai’sa said, her words genuine but her tone blunt. 

“Yeah,” Yasuo lied. “Sorry about the last… few days.” 

Ahri tilted his head at him. “You went through a rough experience, you have the right to a few days of recovery.” 

“Right…” He looked over at Jackson, silently begging for him to guide the conversation elsewhere. 

Jackson took the hint. “Anyway, now that Yasuo is here, we can discuss the formal plans for today.”

With that, everyone’s attention was drawn away from the somber musician, and he found himself finally able to breathe normally once more. 

“In order to preserve your voices, there is no need to do a full practice today. You need to warm up before the show but do not strain yourselves.” He scrolled further down on his phone. “We will change into the show costumes at around 6:30 to be ready for the 8pm opening. We’ll start with Villain, progress through everyone’s songs, and end with the choreography on MORE.”

The members of K/DA nodded at this, a single thread of excitement slowly cracking through the tense surface. 

Jackson looked over to Yasuo. “You will play live for each of the songs, but you need to move offstage when we go into the routine for MORE. We will play the audio track they have been practicing with for this one so that they remain on beat as possible.” 

He nodded. “Got it.” 

Jackson put his phone away and looked over at the members of K/DA seriously. “Everything you guys have worked for is a few hours away. Make sure you eat something and do whatever you need to do to get yourselves psyched up- yes, it is the Worlds event but you’ve been excited for it for so long, be energetic!”

His speech was not very convincing to most of the room’s occupants, but Yasuo appreciated the effort. He wished the performance would come sooner rather than later, but time was being the bitch it typically was. All he could do was wait and try to keep himself calm. 

“Let me assure you that we have the highest level of security at the event. You will all be entirely safe, there will be no repeats of last time. Although,” Jackson smiled thinly at Yasuo, “we’ll always have our swordsman to keep us safe if we need it.” 

He chuckled awkwardly, fidgeting with the handle of his katana. It wasn’t easy to distract himself from the recent events if Jackson kept reminding him of them. 

“Please make sure everyone is back here on time- we should have a show limousine to drive us over to the stage. Apparently, crowds of people have already started gathering around the arena, so if you want to make an appearance, that’s where you’d go.” He smiled kindly. “That’s all I have for you guys, so I’ll see you back here at around 6.” 

Ahri nodded, leaning back to look at her phone. Evelynn and Kai’sa stood up, walking out to presumably go soak up some attention from the crowds of fans. Akali and Seraphine whispered something to each other, and after a moment, walked up to Yasuo. 

“We’ve missed you, Yasuo,” Seraphine said in her typical friendly fashion- although her tone was a little tired. 

Akali nodded. “We were gonna try out this shengjian restaurant that Sera found the other day, do you want to come with?” 

Yasuo hesitated. As little as he wanted to further interact with people, it would be a good way to distract himself and it would be the first real meal he had eaten in a good number of days. “That sounds good,” he said, shoving down his introverted impulse. 

Seraphine brightened immediately, bouncing slightly on her heels. “Yay! What about you, Ahri?” 

Ahri’s blue gaze slid over to her, but she shook her head, waving them away with a hand. She looked preoccupied with something else, almost like there was a tinge of sadness creeping out around the edges of her typically motivated demeanor. He considered asking, but he knew Ahri would rather be left alone on topics like that. 

“Aw, alright then.”

“Next time, maybe,” Akali added. 

Before too long, Yasuo found himself back out in the cold, wishing that he brought a thicker jacket. He listened to Akali and Seraphine chatter, keeping his hands in his pockets to prevent his fingers from freezing off by the time he needed to play at Worlds. They jumped between topics easily, everything from managing a Twitter to how much she liked this shengjian restaurant to how much she missed Bao, her cat. 

It was easy to focus on their bubbly conversation, and it was easy keeping Jhin at the back of his mind. He let them lead the way, not thinking about where he was going or how to maintain a conversation. It was nice, he was glad he tacked along onto their trip.

After a brisk walk, they found themselves standing in front of an elaborate building Seraphine excitedly dubbed the shengjian building. Akali moved to reach for the door, but Seraphine stopped her. “Oh! Now that you got me thinking about my Twitter, could you take a picture of me in front of this? I never have a good idea of what to post, honestly.” 

“No problem,” Akali said with a smirk. “Yas, do you want to hop in as well? Show off the new hair?” 

“No, I wouldn't want to steal the center of attention,” Yasuo teased back easily. 

Akali laughed. “Your loss, then. Or maybe Sera’s fans’?” 

“Definitely Sera’s fans’.” 

Seraphine posed dramatically in front of the cozy-looking restaurant, her blue hair shimmering in the cold midday light. After taking a few dozen pictures at a few different angles, Akali handed her back her phone and they went inside. 

The lunch rush was clearly just beginning, and the quiet murmur of conversation and sizzling food filled the room. It was dimly lit, but it added to the atmosphere of a warm restaurant. 

Within a few minutes, a waiter who recognized them immediately sat them down at a table that was fairly distanced from the rest of the patrons- Yasuo was fairly grateful for this, as lucky as he was to have “fans” he didn’t exactly love having them come up and disturb his meal. 

Yasuo wasn’t exactly sure what shengjian was- hell, he could barely pronounce it. But after Seraphine’s insistence on everyone’s order, he conceded and placed in an identical request.

After only a few minutes of waiting, the waiter brought out a few steaming plates of small, pan-fried dumplings. They were small, small enough to fit one or two in just the palm of his hand, and they were crispened by being fried in the grease of the pan. They had some type of seasoning across the top of them- perhaps sesame seeds? They were hot and seemed full to the brim with some type of filling. 

Seraphine thanked the waiter, and quickly picked up a pair of chopsticks, biting into one carefully, trying not to burn herself. Yasuo glanced down at his own plate, picking one up with chopsticks and biting into it tentatively. The filling was some type of meat- pork perhaps, and extremely hot. The dough on the outside was thick and filling. 

“You were right, Sera,” Akali began, eating at a faster rate than either of them. Apparently, she was immune to being burned by high-temperature food, as she had no issue with the near-scalding filling. “These ARE good!” 

“What did I say?” She smiled at both of them. “Thank you for coming along.” 

After they had finished their meal, they spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the city, looking through stores, and interacting with the occasional fan. As the sky began to grow darker, Yasuo’s tensions began to rise. 

He had already been pushed to a breaking point these last few days due to witnessing Jhin’s capture firsthand, but now the realization that the worldwide K/DA performance was only hours away. He could feel the tension pooling in his muscles, but couldn’t do anything to stop it: throughout the entire investigation, he was so sure that Worlds would be canceled that he had never really dwelled on it. And now he was expected to perform during one of the worst mental states of his life. 

Nothing really felt real: he had gone through rough periods before, and everything had felt tense and miserable. But his current emotions were a different breed- he was so terrified yet isolated from it all, as if Jhin’s capture was another performance and Worlds was as far away as Ionia. 

So, as Seraphine and Akali chattered excitedly and carried him through the passing hours, he tried to pull himself together, keeping himself intentionally distanced from Jhin’s capture but trying to zero in on the performance. He was half-convinced that he’d walk out onto stage and entirely forget how to play music. 

Before he was truly ready, Seraphine excitedly pointed out the time and started steering them back to the studio. She gushed to him about hair stylists, about how shiny his golden jacket would look, and how she feared getting her long ponytail trapped in her instrument. Yasuo nodded along, unable to force himself to focus on anything else but an ominous feeling of tension but still wanting Sera to feel listened to. 

When they walked through the door to the studio, they were only able to catch a glimpse of the other K/DA members before being swept apart by personal stylists. Akali gave him a mock salute and slipped in an earbud; her costume didn’t require as much work to change into as Yasuo’s did. 

Since the Worlds event was being sponsored by AAPE, there was an important-looking businessman overseeing the extra stylists. They made him change into his costume first- layers of high-quality fabric and glimmering accents were all part of the prestigious outfit. After he changed into the uncharastically glamorous outfit, the makeup artists swept in, trying to bring out the flecks of gold in his dull brown eyes as Yasuo zoned out entirely. 

In the time it took him to get dressed in the morning, the stylists transformed him into a bright-eyed, motivated looking idol that could easily be plastered on all sorts of posters or magazines for typical young adults. As they ushered him out the door to meet with the rest of K/DA, he was able to catch a glimpse or two of the man staring back at him in the mirror. If the expression “night and day,” was ever relevant, it was here: this man looked put together, fashionable, successful- everything Yasuo was not. 

The makeup artists had definitely done their part- all Yasuo would have to do was act confident, play his music well, and he would sell the look. Everyone profits, he doesn’t get fired, and he could finally move out of this hellish stage in his life. 

All the other K/DA members looked just as unrecognizable and well put together as he did, making it no surprise when deafening cheers sounded from all around them as they were escorted into the limousine. Pop culture reporters begged for interviews, fans desperately reached out for recognition or even an autograph, but nothing they did even passed into Yasuo’s consciousness. At one point, he had been genuinely excited for Worlds: the chance to show off his skill in music, to collaborate with one of the most popular bands on the planet, to have one of the biggest second chances in history. But now, he couldn’t force his mind off of Jhin. 

Instead of chattering excitedly with the girls or going over musical chords in his head, he was wrestling his mind away from Jhin. He promised he would focus on it after the performance, begging the darkening storm of anxiety to return in just a few hours, but it never listened. He shivered with tension, pulling his jacket tighter around him in an attempt to blame the action on the cold. 

Nothing could have prepared him for the moment he stepped out of the limousine. The performance as part of GIANTS still made his head spin, and he had been in one of his best mental states at the time. The Worlds event, especially with a big name like K/DA attached to it, was everything his first concert was but ten times as bad. The screaming of excited fans, the lights, the incoherent roar of energy: Evelynn lived for it, strutting ahead of everyone and waving deviously to the shyest looking spectators. However, for Yasuo, it made him want to crawl back into the reassuring depths of the dark limousine and never come back. It took all he had to keep his posture relaxed and his steps straight, forcing his hands into his pockets so no one could see how tightly his hands were balled into fists. 

After a roughly 30 second walk that took 30 years off of Yasuo’s life, they reached the building and the doors closed heavily behind them. He let out an audible sigh of relief, Kai’sa glancing over at him with an amused expression. Jackson was nowhere to be seen, likely stressing over every minute security detail right before they were about to go up on stage. 

However, the Community Manager  _ was  _ there to greet them, a rather rare sight. She waved with her left hand as her right held an open Twitter trending page. “Congrats, y’all! First on trending worldwide, how do y’all feel?” 

As Seraphine and Kai’sa gave bubbling answers to her two-dimensional questions, Yasuo watched with an amused grin as a sweaty Jackson jogged over from a door across the building, looking about as stressed as Yasuo currently felt. 

“Well, girls, you’re up in twenty! Couldn’t miss wishing you off!” Jackson rushed, immediately glancing over to the Community Manager. “Can I borrow him?” He said, pulling away Yasuo without waiting for a response. 

“Alright, Jackson, what have you gotten yourself into this time? Do I need to stab some paparazzi?” 

Jackson gave a nervous laugh, still slightly out of breath. “No, I’m  _ fairly  _ certain I’ve got this one under control. However, I just wanted to remind you of a few things.” 

“Go on?” 

Jackson took a breath. “We have the Golden Demon set to transfer over to a European prison around midday tomorrow. However, he’s still under our watch, so he’s locked up as best we can in the building’s basement. We’ve tried to interact with him as little as possible as we don’t know what he could be hiding up his sleeves.”

Yasuo shot him a confused look. “What’s that have to do with the concert?” 

“Right, yes, I’m getting to that. What I’m saying is that I am focusing most of our security around guarding the Golden Demon’s cell, which I  _ really  _ did not account for when I planned this months back. Everything should go smoothly, but I want to remind you if… anything goes wrong, you’re our last line of defense, okay? I trust you, Yasuo.” 

Yasuo nodded solemnly. He would have his katana on stage, although slicing someone up in front of millions of people, no matter how evil their intentions, would easily end his career. Granted, with this amount of stress, maybe it wasn’t exactly a bad thing. 

“I know you transfer off during the MORE routine, but don’t worry, I’ve accounted for that. I’ve shifted the bulk of security to focus on that section of the concert, so when you go offstage the protection around them will ramp up.” Jackson gave him a tired smile. “It’s a tough situation, but we’ll make it work between all of us. I know you’re not really part of security, but I’ve relied on you more than most people in my division.” 

Yasuo laughed. “Jackson, you need a raise. I don’t think planning out to this extent was necessary, but I’m sure someone will appreciate the effort.” 

Jackson gave him a look.

“I’m kidding! Of course I appreciate it too.” 

“Alright, I’ll see you after the show. Gotta run.” Jackson pushed him gently back towards the rest of K/DA, giving them all a final wave before half-jogging back the way he came. 

The minutes flew by, and when a giant timer counting out the last 10 seconds before K/DA appeared on stage began to tick down, Yasuo swore he caught a look of anxiety crossing Evelynn’s face. The clock struck zero, and everything went black as a deafening remix of  _ THE BADDEST  _ started playing as they all walked out onto the stage, dizzying lights and smoke appearing to complement their mystic look. 

Yasuo forced himself to look  _ anywhere  _ but the crowd; his legs were so stiff he could barely move them. He walked over to his station, thankfully in a corner, and found that his hands were shaking so badly he could barely get them to hover over the proper keys. He knew the song order and each key by pure muscle memory, but he was shaking so badly he thought he would lose it all. 

He knew that the first song was  _ VILLAIN,  _ and he knew his cue. It was practice and repetition alone that carried him through the first song, as his mind was entirely blank in a state of anxiety and shock. He couldn’t believe that the event they had struggled with for so long was happening  _ right now  _ and that he was playing in front of a crowd even larger than the one that stretched out at the corners of his vision. 

He was able to get in a type of rhythm, his mind devoid of all thoughts for the first time in weeks. The music flowed through him, to the soundboard, and then out to the outside world, as if it were reflecting the waves of energy that rippled through his soul. He only slipped and hit the wrong key once or twice- the first due to his hands shaking too badly and missing, and the second due to a random scream of “YASUO!” from an energetic fan. He had bitten his tongue so badly he tasted iron for the rest of the concert. 

When his hand lifted from the last key of the last song, a feeling of lightheadedness struck him so intensely he thought his knees would buckle there and then. He felt his chest growing tight- it was  _ done,  _ it was  _ over,  _ the lights would suddenly cut out so he could leave the stage and the finale of MORE could begin. 

He practically ran off stage, his breaths coming in gasps. The last hour of thoughts that had spared his mind washed over him all at once the second he stood in the offroom, and he stumbled. His stylists rushed over to him, but he waved them off immediately. “Not now… anxiety.. Give me a second.” 

They gave him a fairly disgruntled look, but left him alone, giving him the illusion of privacy by distracting themselves with their phones. He glanced around the room, realizing how empty it seemed, and then Jackson’s words echoed through his mind.  _ I’ve shifted the bulk of security to focus on that section of the concert, so when you go offstage the protection around them will ramp up. _

A new wave of anxiety washed over him, but not from performing in front of millions of people.

Three minutes and fifty-one seconds. That was how long  _ MORE  _ took to perform, he could feel each beat of the song as intensely as he could the day he wrote it. His eyes hovered on a security keycard, left behind on a table for only a few minutes in time. The security guard had probably left it, annoyed at being dragged out to watch over superfans on his break. 

Three minutes and thirty seconds. Time was slipping away like grains of sand between his fingers. He had the opportunity to make the worst decision of his life. He would never get the opportunity again. Three minutes and twenty-five seconds. 

Yasuo lurched forwards, grabbing the security keycard and slipping it up his sleeve. His blood roared in his ears, shaking with a mix of both anxiety and adrenaline.. “Bathroom.. Might be sick…” he stammered out to the stylists, who all avoided his gaze as he ran out of the room.

Instead of going to the place he had cited to the uncomfortable stylists, he racked his mind for everything Jackson had said to him before the performance. He jumped over rails, taking stairs being too slow for his purpose. Two minutes and fifty-five seconds. “The basement, was it?” He murmured to himself, his voice more still now than it had been all day. 

He stumbled across the first door. Hastily, he pushed the keyboard against the sensor, almost ready to cry the moment he saw it flash green. He did this for each door he came across, just as surprised at the keycard’s success as he was the time before. Finally, at two minutes and nine seconds, he stood before a door labeled “TO BASEMENT: STAFF ONLY.” 

He dropped the keycard as he reached out towards the final sensor, swearing as he caught it with his other hand. He slammed the card against the lock, wasting five seconds in disbelief when this, too, flashed green. 

He ripped open the door, half terrified that a swarm of guards would happen upon him, and demand what he was doing so out of place. However, everything was deserted, all resources focused on protecting K/DA for the remaining one minute and fifty-three seconds. After all, no one could slip through so many levels of security in such a short amount of time.

In the basement, there was a small room, likely used for private conferences or lunch breaks apart from the rest of the typically furnished area. In the room, there was a glass pane showing the inside. Glancing into it desperately, Yasuo’s eyes landed on a certain golden artist, who was currently hunched in a rather depressing manner against the wall. His eyes threatened to tear up then and there. 

One minute and thirty-four seconds. He slammed the keycard against the door’s lock, startling the man inside. Jhin tensed aggressively, looking over at the door that swung open with an air of hostility, and froze altogether. 

One minute twenty-nine seconds. 

_ “Yasuo…”  _ Jhin called, his voice full of disbelief and utter admiration. 

“We don’t have time for this! I’m getting you out of here!” Yasuo grabbed Jhin’s forearm, roughly pulling him to his feet and dragging him out of the room. 

One minute eleven seconds. Yasuo didn’t exactly have an escape plan, and he stumbled around desperately for a few moments before his eyes locked onto the perfect solution: a fire exit. “Out!” Yasuo cried, shoving Jhin towards it.

Jhin, for the first time in his life, looked like he was at a complete loss for words. “Why…?”

“No!” Yasuo responded inadequately, aggressively opening the door. “Get out of here, run!” 

And at forty-four seconds in, Yasuo saved the Golden Demon’s life.

Yasuo slammed the doors shut behind him, racing up the stairs as quickly as he could, but knowing deep down he wasn’t going to make it on time. Cheers rose up as the beloved members of K/DA left the stage, blowing kisses to their dedicated superfans one last time as everything went dark. Yasuo slipped back into the offroom as all the focus was centered on the girls who were practically glowing with excitement. 

He tried to control his breathing, trying to mask the fact he had just sprinted up multiple flights of stairs. The stylists and everyone else who filtered into the room poured compliments over the members of K/DA, a few starting towards Yasuo but quickly getting deferred away by his stylists. He shot them looks of gratitude. 

The atmosphere was so hyper, so excited, so relieved. He started counting down the seconds until everything fell apart, wondering how in the hell he expected to get away with it. Maybe, deep down, he didn’t. He learned the value of sacrifice many times over in his life, perhaps he was finally making up for his past wrongs, for what everyone else had done for him. 

It took three minutes for Jackson to walk into the offroom. Yasuo had never seen him as stonefaced as he did at that moment, and he had seen him on the scene of a murder. The atmosphere that surrounded him immediately drowned the one in the room, and the excited buzz between K/DA and the ones around them died down to a nervous one. 

“I want everyone besides K/DA and their stylists to come with me,” he said in a deadly monotone, leaving the room immediately after. 

Yasuo stared straight ahead, shuddering as those behind him exchanged anxious glances. Jackson led them into a larger area where a gathering of people, mostly security agents, were sitting in absolute silence. They joined the crowd, Yasuo folding his arms to prevent his body from shaking. 

Jackson was not a scary person. He was reliable, patient, and fun to be around. However, in this moment, the tension in the room was strong enough to make a hellhound whimper. No one spoke for a very long time as his disappointed gaze swept over the room.

“Someone in this room,” he began in a cold tone, “helped the Golden Demon escape tonight.” 

Gasps of shock and fear sounded across the room. Once they died down, Jackson continued. “He was more secure than the fucking president. Only someone with insider information down to the exact minute of vulnerability paired with a high-level keycard could’ve done this.” 

The sharp tension building in the room could wound. No one met Jackson’s eye, and his knuckles were white from being clenched into fists. A wave of guilt washed over him- Jackson was so passionate about his job and trusted Yasuo so much. He felt lower than a traitor. 

“Go,” Jackson said icily. “No one leaves until we get a top to bottom comb. I want every square inch of this building and the perimeter searched.” 

He didn’t have to say it twice. People practically ran over one another trying to get out of the frigid aura of the room. Yasuo let all of the guards clear out first, and then stood up, only to be called over by Jackson himself a moment later. 

Yasuo froze, biting his tongue to keep his composure. He turned and walked stiffly over to Jackson. He said nothing, his eyes dull as he watched the last few people filter out of the room. 

“Jackson?” Yasuo tried, unable to stand the tension. 

With that, Jackson hunched over, rubbing both temples with his hands. He was silent for a long while, only speaking in a low rasp an unbearable moment later. “Why, Yasuo? Why did you let him out? Why  _ you,  _ of all people?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say I was sorry for the cliffhanger but.. I'd be lying ;)
> 
> We're almost at the end! We either have one chapter left, or a chapter and an epilogue :) As always, thank you to commenters such as NekoChan16, melancholyGoggles, snekuwu, and MapleLokidottir (who drew FANART!!). You are the ones motivating this fic!
> 
> If you want updates, WIPs, and to hear me ramble about league, check out CrowsQuillAO3 on Twitter :)


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